A developer who bought Hawthorn Plaza, the Main Street apartment building known for frequent police and ambulance calls, wants additional public assistance to fix up the place. But he's run into opposition from the tax collector.
Howard Fischer's plans call for a mixed-use building that offers both low-income and market-rate housing. The former Naughty But Nice porn shop will be demolished to accommodate parking. Catering to Section 8 tenants in its former life, Hawthorn Plaza was "poorly managed," Fischer says, engendering skeeziness.
Fischer was hoping to tap into the 43rd and Main Tax-Increment Financing Plan to pay some of his redevelopment costs. Created in 1994, the TIF plan originally subsidized H&R Block expansion and the construction of an Office Depot.
But Jackson County, the Kansas City, Missouri, School District and the Kansas City Library presented a letter to the TIF Commission today stating that enough was enough.
Saying the TIF plan has "run its course," the letter asked the TIF Commission to deny Fischer's request for additional money. (The Hawthorn received assistance in a previous amendment to the plan.) The letter says money the TIF plan intercepts should be returned to the taxing jurisdictions (the school district, et al.) "for the good of all taxpayers."
"We just said, it's time that a TIF project actually comes to a close," says Calvin Williford, a Jackson County spokesman.
Roxsen Koch, Fischer's attorney, says she understands the government agencies' desire to redirect the tax stream. "They're facing tough budget decisions," she says. But rehabilitation around 39th and Main is far from complete. "Clearly we have still have blight in the area," she says.
Fischer emphasizes that he's not an out-of-town developer trying to maximize his take at the expense of the surrounding neighborhood. "I live five blocks from the building," he says.
The TIF Commssion came up with a compromise, one that didn't leave Fischer very happy. Rather than send all the money back to the taxing jurisdictions, the board voted to allow the Southmoreland Neighborhood Association to draw $842,000 from the $2.2 million that had built up in the TIF's bank account. The rest of the money is poised to return to the county, the schools and the library.
Comments (0)