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Study Shows Demand For Residential Space In Downtown Springfield

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The Sustainable Design Assessment Team has been focused on the future of Downtown Springfield for about two years. 

SDAT sees the need for more residential space downtown.  A recent study confirms that view. 

"We're really talking about millenials, people in their 20's plus or minus.  And we're talking about the other end of the spectrum, empty nesters," Action Committee Co-chair Chuck Pell said.  Students from UIS or SIU could also be another group looking for a downtown living experience. 

"What they found was 1,000 units could be built and supported by residents in the next three years. By 2017, we could have 1,000 new people living downtown," the other co-chair Lisa Clemmons Stott said. 

Even if someone has no intention of moving downtown, they could get involved.  Stott says investment in properties would help the effort.  That's where the housing study comes in.  It's one thing to ask for investment, it's another to show numbers.

"Now we have this professionally done housing study that really talks about demand," Pell said. 

More details on the studyand other SDAT work will be discussed during the Springfield Citizens' Club Policy Breakfast on Friday February 28 at 8 a.m.

'Downtown is what makes Springfield unique," Stott said.  "If we didn't have the downtown we have, it would just be any other city in the midwest.  So people really do care about having a downtown that is special and keeping it that way."

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