La Grande Urban Renewal Agency's fiscal year report reveals details of five local renovation projects

“In terms of the 2021 year, that was completely a COVID-impacted year for economic development and the agency,” La Grande City Manager Robert Strope said.

The Urban Renewal area encompasses 526 acres in La Grande, which is roughly 20% of the city’s acreage. According to the 2020-21 fiscal report, the Urban Renewal area’s frozen base assessed value was $112,609,450 — the total assessed value was measured at $169,054,932.

The agency operates with the goals of revitalizing downtown, creating high-quality family-wage jobs, and supporting retail development, housing, transportation and community facilities.

Throughout the last fiscal year, the agency received $1,044,426 in tax revenues, with total revenues of $1,602,491. The agency’s expenditures were $632,126 for the general fund and $251,243 for the debt fund.

The agency’s estimated tax revenues in the past fiscal year were $1,148,000. The budget included $1,803,014 in revenues for the general fund and $2,058,730 in requirements for the debt fund.

The 2020-21 report showed contributions to five local establishments, an increase from previous years. The agency contributed a combined $250,000 to projects at Raul’s Taqueria, the Slate Building, Hines Meat Co., The Local and The Copy Club.

“We actually did reward the full $250,000 that we had budgeted for that fiscal year, which is pretty typical for us in the past,” Strope said. “We’ve generally had more requests for funding than we’ve had dollars available.”

The Raul’s Taqueria funds — $21,000 out of a $46,000 project cost — involved an expansion into the adjacent space that previously housed Looking Glass Books. The renovation increased Raul’s capacity from roughly 30-40 customers to upward of 90, according to co-owner Arturo Escamilla.

“It’s definitely increased business and we’ve been happy,” Escamilla said.

Funds from the grant helped pay for the expansion, as well as renovation in the original restaurant space. The Adams Avenue business has been in operation since 2011, but can now cater to an expanded customer base with the addition of a functioning bar in the new space.

“Everyone seems to like it,” Escamilla said. “We have had a lot of compliments from our regular customers, as well as getting new customers to come in.”

The $64,220 in Urban Renewal grant funding at The Local were used in renovating the former Texaco station on Adams Avenue into a coffee and ice cream shop with indoor and outdoor seating and a drive-thru window.

In the 2020-21 fiscal year, $69,708 was used to assist Hines Meat Co. in adding coolers and equipment to meet USDA standards and increase offerings.

Another URA project in the fiscal year was renovating the Slate Building on Fir Street. The report indicated that $34,700 was spent on the building, which includes housing units and street-level businesses. The renovations involved improvements to HVAC systems, electrical systems and mechanical systems.

The final project of the fiscal year improved the parking lot and landscaping at The Copy Club, a highly visible business at the busy intersection of Adams and Island avenues.

According to Strope, the amount of requests for funding has trended down in recent years. The agency received more than 20 applications several years ago, but is currently handling two total projects in the current fiscal year. Strope noted that having fewer project requests than dollars available was a bit of an anomaly in comparison to typical fiscal years.

“The budget proposal that I’m looking at submitting for the coming fiscal year is going to maintain the call for projects at that higher budget amount in hopes that we’ll have more projects,” Strope said. “We are seeing increased interest in calls for projects, which is promising.”

The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in project costs and material availability, affecting how the agency went about its projects during the last fiscal year.

The agency’s plan does not expire by a specific date, but rather has an allotted $9,407,121 remaining indebtedness.

“It can change based on if we have major projects,” Strope said. “We still have several years remaining that we can continue operating and do projects at the level we currently are.”