02-13-17 Community Investment - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Dr. Dave Varner stated, When we look at these things and we talk about abatements or public funding as a percentage of the project, I would like to see a baseline statement for any project. The breakdown of private investment and public investment in projects would be nice to see, as well as having a baseline percentage for private and public investment. On the recent project at the Commerce Center, there was a very aggressive tax abatement used coupled with large public support. I think that may well go beyond what we've been talking about in the past. If that sets a new standard, I'd expect more people will ask for that same standard and we ought to clarify that going forward. Mr. Pawlowski replied, If we average out three (3) or four (4) years, fifteen percent(15%) is the range or the average. We the City of course wish it were closer zero (0), developers like it to be higher but fifteen percent(15%) is where it normally falls. Regional cities projects and special projects require matches or something of that nature, but the point remains. Committeemember Regina Williams-Preston stated, I wanted to clarify something John said about TIF districts. What is the expiration on TIF districts, for example, River West?Does that never end? Mr. Pawlowski replied, Yes, every TIF has an expiration date. State law mandates an expiration on TIF districts. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, So I understand for the Central Business District(CBD) there are overall development plans with goals and objectives. I assume the same exists for some of the other plans. Could you address for my benefit and others the alignment of the decisions being made being reflective of the plan? How true are we to the stated goals of what would best bring about the redevelopment and development of the CBD? What is the formal process? Is that at a staff level or is it at the Redevelopment Commission level? Could you give me a sense of the nuts and bolts of what drives that process? Mr. Pawlowski replied, The redevelopment plans do go before the Redevelopment Commission. We actually are working on revisions that were necessary as result of the TIF realignment. With respect to the CBD there are multiple TIFs,the River West and the River East. The plans govern types of uses that we are after or activities that we are after. So it's not necessarily a specific delineation of what we want, we try to cast a pretty broad net because you never know when people are going to come in. But in terms of the uses, it is what you would think. Mixed-Use is about as specific as we get when it comes to plans. When you talk about acquisition of properties, that is more of a developer-level conversation. I'd say the most relevant and most used land use is the Mixed-Use classification. Upon completion of the presentation, Committee Chair Ferlic adjourned the Community Investment Committee Meeting at 3:59 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Gavin Ferlic, Chairperson 3