A Master Plan By Any Other Name: “MIG/Populous” Hopes To Facilitate Redding’s Riverfront Redesign At A Taxpayer Cost Of $1.2 Million

.

It’s been 17 months since the City’s planned closed-session negotiation for a set of real estate parcels prompted widespread community outrage.

Shasta Scout’s reporting revealed that the parcels being considered for sale included more than 200 acres of prime riverfront land, including the Redding Rodeo and Civic Auditorium grounds.

In response to that information, the combined voices of concerned community members, including an alliance of environmental advocates and a significant number of Native residents, prompted the Council to delay a land sale decision and hold a series of public workshops instead. 

Had the city moved forward on the real estate deal in 2021, Redding’s prime riverfront land would likely have been declared surplus to allow a consortium that included locally-owned K-2 Development Companies and Kansas City-based international design firm Populous, Inc. to provide free riverfront land “master planning” services for the community as part of a deal to buy and develop the area.

Instead, in response to community concerns, the Council voted in April 2022 to initiate a city-led riverfront development planning process, deciding to spend up to $1.25 million in federal COVID-relief American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to update an outdated thirty-year-old document known as the Redding Riverfront Specific Plan (“Riverfront Plan.”)

The Council’s decision ostensibly placed riverfront development plans in the hands of the people, instead of developers. But the City lacked adequate staff to lead the Riverfront Plan process and contract for services was put out to bid.

Now, on Tuesday, February 7, the Council is being asked to approve one of three bidders for that project, a “firm” referred to as “MIG/Populous.”

There is no mention of whether “MIG/Populous” is connected to the architectural design firm Populous, Inc. that was part of the four-member non-profit-and-developer consortium that submitted a 72-page proposal to “master plan” the Redding riverfront in September 2021.

Shasta Scout has reached out to multiple city staff and elected officials to confirm the identify of the firm or firms behind the bid, and is pending a response.

A review of business entity names indicates the proposal is likely a collaboration between Kansas City-based design firm Populous, Inc. and MIG, a national planning and design firm with a focus on “environments that support human development.”

All three proposals received were reviewed by a selection committee composed of city staff, including unnamed members of the City Manager’s Office, the Planning Division, and the Public Works and Community Services Departments.

According to the staff report, “MIG/Populous” was chosen because it’s believed to have the best capacity to “facilitate a robust and inclusive public engagement” and provide adequate environmental expertise to ensure compliance with California’s Environmental Quality Act or CEQA.

The Council agenda does not include a copy of the three bids the City received for the Riverfront Plan update or details of the proposed contract with “MIG/Populous.” Instead, the Council is being asked to delegate contract details to Redding’s City Manager, Barry Tippin.

Without contract specifics it’s difficult to know exactly how “MIG/Populous” would be involved in the Riverfront Plan process, what community engagement would be included, or how environmental concerns would be addressed.

The City’s staff report does provide clues to how the City Manager might choose to structure contract specifics saying the City hopes to use the Riverfront Plan update as a “roadmap to re-energize the Redding riverfront area, defining how it supports tourism, and catalyzing new and high-quality residential, commercial, civic and tourist service uses that will enhance the vitality, accessibility, and civic appeal of the area, while recognizing market and financial realities.” 

The City’s RFP for the project also provides some specifics about how the community is likely to be involved and what considerations for development Redding staff have in mind for the area.

That document specifies that the process will include considerations of “environmental justice” and the involvement of public workshops and city-chosen representatives from key stakeholder organizations, including the McConnell Foundation, Advance Redding, the Redding Rodeo Association, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Tribal representatives, property owners, and community organizations.

Should “MIG/Populous” be approved by the Council on Tuesday, February 7, the “firm” would be paid up to $1.2 million to facilitate planning for an area that currently includes about 500 acres of public and private land near the Redding riverfront.

Redding’s City Council will vote on whether to contract with “MIG/Populous” to lead the Riverfront Plan update on Tuesday, February 7, at 6 pm. You can contact the City Council by email here.

This is a developing story.

Resources:

• See the City’s RFP for the Riverfront Specific Plan update here.
• See questions submitted from bidders in response to the RFP here.
• Information on the City’s Redding Riverfront Specific Planning Process update here. 
• Read Shasta Scout’s previous coverage of the Redding Riverfront Specific Plan update here. 
• Read Shasta Scout’s full coverage on the Redding Riverfront land sale, here.

2.6.23 12:41 pm: City Manager Barry Tippin has confirmed that the entity described as “MIG/Populous” is a proposal by the national design firm MIG that includes Populous, Inc. as a subcontractor. We have also clarified that while the Council may have received copies of MIG’s proposal, the agenda packet provided to the public did not.

2.4.23 2:05 pm: For clarity, we have updated our description of the organization MIG