A Q&A With Marcia Gebarowski, the East Lansing DDA’s First Executive Director
Last month, the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority (DDA) hired an executive director for the first time in its roughly 40 years of existence.
Up to this point, the DDA has relied on various city staff members to carry out its work. Now, Marcia Gebarowski will be tasked with overseeing the DDA, which works to improve downtown East Lansing and carries a budget of more than $2.5 million.
Gebarowski spoke with ELi about her past experiences, thoughts on the DDA’s most pressing challenges and hopes for the downtown area.
Q: Tell me about yourself. What is some of your professional background that led you to East Lansing, and why were you interested in being the DDA’s first executive director?
Since graduating from Michigan State University, Gebarowski has worked in urban planning, often with DDAs. Her first couple jobs after graduating from college involved managing DDAs in Southfield and Hamtramck.
For more than 10 years she worked for the state of Michigan, growing her knowledge of economic development. Most recently, she worked for Ann Arbor SPARK, a regional economic development organization.
“I managed the day-to-day economic development for Livingston County,” she said. “That wasn’t directly managing DDAs, but it was partnering with our local DDAs, supporting them.”
While working at the regional level, Gebarowski said she missed guiding projects, which will be a key part of her job in East Lansing.
“At the state, that was all that I was doing,” she said. “Regionally, you’re making sure that things are done, but then you’re kind of off to the next thing. You’re setting up a project for success, but then you’re not actually following it through.”
Q: One of the DDA’s biggest challenges is its long-held Evergreen Avenue properties. Each year, the principal and interest payments on the loan used to purchase these properties costs the DDA a significant portion of its budget, and past attempts to sell the properties have been unsuccessful. Do you have any sort of vision on how to address the financial challenges associated with the properties, while ensuring the land is used in a way that benefits the community?
Gebarowski said she can’t entirely answer this question, with just two weeks of experience on the job. She said she is already learning about the history of the properties–how much they were purchased for, their value and more–but the learning process is ongoing.
She said she has learned about past efforts to develop the land that failed, like the most recent effort by River Caddis. She added that she hasn’t yet met with the entire DDA board to have a complete discussion on the properties.
“I’m meeting with people individually and they’re having their own conversations with me and I’m getting everybody’s perspective,” Gebarowski said.
She said the DDA will continue to market the properties through Savills, the large firm the DDA hired last year to help sell the properties. She said if the DDA needs to put more resources into amplifying the marketing effort, that may be worthwhile.
“We’ll look at all options to make sure as many eyes are on that site as possible,” she said.
Q: Previously, developers and DDA members have expressed frustration with the standards for approval that City Council puts on new developments. Do you have any thoughts about the approval standards in East Lansing and working with City Council to review proposed developments?
Gebarowski said she has been learning about the city’s land use zones, and will next dig into the city’s ordinances to learn about development standards.
She said she hopes to meet with each member of City Council individually to talk about projects in the DDA district. In previous positions, she’s been a bridge person working with developers and governing bodies, experience that she said will be helpful in this role.
“It really is about finding common ground and not being afraid to look at both sides,” Gebarowski said.
Q: Is there anything you think downtown East Lansing could use, or is there any specific aspect of this job that you’re especially excited to dive into?
Gebarowski said she can’t think of any specific development that is missing from the downtown area, but that the city was in need of a staff member to guide the DDA.
“If I were to answer that, I think it’s this position,” she said. “I think that the leadership and visibility of the DDA, and to strengthen its function… is probably what I think has been missing for the last few years. I’m proud to have the opportunity to bring that to life, and to put some structure around the DDA itself and its programming.”
Gebarowski said she is excited to work in a college town. She looks forward to bringing developments that year-round residents want and are also beneficial to the university.
“[Making sure] that we’re still a strong, vibrant downtown for both our residents and students,” she said. “I think that in the last two weeks has been much more of an interesting aspect to achieve in this role than I think I could have ever imagined.”
Gebarowski went on to say that an exciting challenge will be “fostering an ecosystem” that allows unique businesses – including those run by students – to operate downtown.
“To create that downtown ecosystem for new businesses to be just as successful, and to have an opportunity to start,” she said.