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627 Yellowstone Hwy before and after facade grant renovation
When most people think of building tools, they picture the tangible: hammers, saws, and heavy equipment constructing something out of nothing. It’s the physical and visible signs of progress we all recognize.
But the most transformative work behind urban renewal rarely begins on a job site.
Long before the first wall is framed, a different set of tools is quietly put to work. These tools don’t leave behind sawdust or erect steel beams, but without them, nothing else happens. These are the financial instruments, incentive structures, and strategic investments that turn vision into viability. These tools determine whether a project moves forward or stalls out on paper.
Because revitalizing a downtown isn’t just about rebuilding structures. It’s about rebuilding confidence, aligning risk, and creating the conditions where private ambition and public good can meet. And that doesn’t happen with a hammer. It happens with the right financial framework and mindset in place.
“When I was a kid, downtown was very vibrant,” said Upslope Media CEO Shawn Houck. “We had department stores and it felt like everything was happening there. In my head, it was like downtown Casper and New York City had the same kind of energy.”
That energy began to fade in the early 1980s and what had once been the center of commerce and culture became quiet and uncertain. The West Central Corridor, now known as the Old Yellowstone District, was one of the areas most affected. Positioned between downtown and the former refinery, it became a patchwork of vacant and underutilized properties.
Backed by City Council and supported by long-term planning efforts that began in the early 2000s through the Casper Urban Renewal Agency, the City of Casper took a different approach to growth—one rooted in strategic investment, partnership, and patience.
In 2012 the City of Casper commissioned the Downtown Strategic Plan and Implementation Strategy with the goal to strengthen downtown as Central Wyoming’s primary retail, housing, and entertainment destination.
Walsh property before and after facade grant as part of the Revolving Land Fund
“The study was monumental; it basically said if you want a great downtown, these are the things you need to bridge the gaps, connect more storefronts for walkability, and get more people living downtown in order for other things to grow,” said Houck.
That plan included developing a public plaza, hotel and conference center, and focused on a network of walkable streets linking 2nd Street to the North Platte riverfront. The public plaza is now known as David Street Station. The hotel will soon be The C.H. Bixby, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton Hotel, and at the time of this article, the Old Yellowstone Apartments are nearly full.
None of these accomplishments happened by accident. They were supported by a deliberate set of financial tools designed to reduce risk and encourage long-term reinvestment.
One of the most impactful was the Revolving Land Fund. In 2006, Casper City Council designated $2 million from the city’s fifth-penny sales tax program to create a fund specifically for acquiring and improving blighted or underutilized properties in the district.
“We never wanted to use public money to make a profit,” said Liz Becher, Community Development Director for the City of Casper. “The goal was to clean properties up, market them toward the kinds of businesses we wanted downtown, and then put the money back into the fund so it could be used again.”
The city used the fund to purchase aging warehouses and vacant properties, remove asbestos and underground tanks, demolish unsafe structures, and prepare sites for redevelopment. Instead of simply selling land to the highest bidder, leaders focused on attracting businesses that fit the long-term vision for the district.
Interior of 627 Yellowstone Highway after facade grant
627 Yellowstone Highway conference room
627 Yellowstone Highway theatre room
627 Yellowstone Highway kitchen
“We did not want outside storage lots or more industrial fabrication uses,” Becher explained. “We wanted complementary businesses that added energy and activity to the neighborhood, and created a 24/7 vibe for residents and guests.”
Another major tool was the Redevelopment Loan Fund, which used Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to provide low-interest gap financing to businesses willing to invest in the district.
At just 1.5% interest, the loans helped businesses overcome financial hurdles that might otherwise have prevented projects from moving forward. The funding wasn’t about giving handouts. It was about creating jobs, increasing economic activity, and helping businesses establish roots in an area many people had written off.
“We had to prove to HUD that these projects were creating jobs and helping lift the urban renewal area economically,” said Becher. “The whole point was to remove barriers so businesses could succeed.”
The city also used CDBG funding for blight removal and façade improvement grants. Cleanup days were organized throughout the district to remove scrap materials, abandoned equipment, and years of accumulated debris from alleys and vacant lots.
“We were trying to help people take pride in the neighborhood again,” Becher said. “Once property owners saw momentum happening around them, they started investing in their own buildings too.”
The façade grant program became one of the most visible examples of that momentum. Businesses could apply for matching grants of up to $10,000 to improve storefronts, windows, lighting, signage, and landscaping. Over roughly six years, the city completed 24 façade grants throughout the district.
Those investments helped transform aging industrial buildings into places people wanted to visit, work, and spend time in.
“It wasn’t about tearing everything down and starting over,” said Becher. “A lot of it was about repurposing what already existed and helping people see potential where they hadn’t seen it before.”
Houck experienced that impact firsthand with the renovation of the former Coca-Cola warehouse at 627 W. Yellowstone Highway.
627 Yellowstone Hwy before and after facade grant renovation
“When I decided to start my company back in ‘98/’99, I knew I wanted to be downtown, and I’ve been downtown ever since,” said Houck. “Applying for a facade grant enabled us to upgrade our front entryway of our most recent location with modern windows and nice landscaping, which was very helpful,” said Houck. “Last year the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) set up a program called Boost that’s modeled on the experience I had here. It provides grants to businesses in the DDA district for things like facade improvements, marketing events, and things like that. It’s great to see it continuing.”
That philosophy also helped address one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding urban renewal. Many residents initially feared higher taxes, forced redevelopment, or eminent domain. Becher remembers tense public meetings where business owners worried the city would take their properties or price them out of downtown entirely.
None of that happened.
Instead, the strategy focused on increasing property values through investment, infrastructure, and revitalization. As downtown improved, property owners benefited from rising equity and increased business activity.
“Yes, property taxes went up as property values increased,” Becher said. “But property owners also saw their investments become dramatically more valuable. That growth created shared wealth throughout the district.”
For City leaders, the goal was never short-term profit. It was long-term reinvestment. Funds generated through property sales went back into the Revolving Land Fund to support future projects. Improvements in infrastructure and business activity created momentum that encouraged private investment to follow.
The result today is a downtown district filled with restaurants, breweries, housing projects, public gathering spaces, and locally owned businesses that would have been difficult to imagine two decades ago.
“We had skeptics in the beginning,” Becher said. “But over time, people started to see that urban renewal wasn’t about taking something away. It was about creating opportunity and helping the community build something better together.”
Downtown Casper wasn’t rebuilt by a single project or a single developer. It was rebuilt through vision, persistence, collaboration, and a set of financial tools designed not to extract value from the community, but to reinvest value back into it.
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