4 Comment

• Matt February 15, 2012 at 12:56 pm

  Any chance of the anti-380 agreement, anti-wal mart crowd mobilizing around this $14 mil subsidy?
• shadyheightster February 15, 2012 at 2:16 pm

  The article doesn’t say where that $14 million would come from, other than “the city”. If it comes from funds that are already in the downtown TIRZ, then I could see funding it. If it comes at the expense of other things in the city budget, then that should be a bigger issue
• Bernard February 15, 2012 at 2:58 pm

  If the deal needs $14 million to make the numbers work, then that money needs to come out of the current building owner’s pocket in the way of a lower sales price. Tax payers shouldn’t be funding windfalls to building owners.
• TheNiche February 15, 2012 at 5:41 pm

  I tend to think that TIRZs should attempt to make the general area nice enough that individual projects are viable enough to get financing on their own, through a combination of streetscape, parks, transportation, public parking, public safety, and utility infrastructure projects.

  In that way, rather than ensuring the success of a chosen few well-connected developers, the TIRZ can enable the success of any qualified developer on a wide variety of sites.

  And I hate to say it, but if a building like Texaco’s is too far gone, then knock it down and get at the land to build something else that is functional, memorable, and cost-effective.