7th & Tryon Development Update
Thank you to everyone who wrote to the Mayor and City Council to request that Affordable Housing be included in the 7th & Tryon Development. We did not achieve our goal but we did get City Staff, City Manager, City Council and the Mayor's attention and agreement to revisit how Tax Increment Grants (TIG) & Community Investment Plan (CIP) funds are used in future Economic Development Deals.
On Monday July 13th, City Council voted to approve the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 7th & Tryon Developmen, which will eventually become a binding, final development agreement .
All City Council members approved the deal which includes a $25Million Tax Increment Grant (TIG) that will go towards parking and a $2-$5Million Community Investment Project (CIP) that will go towards infrastructure for 7th & Tryon development. The City uses Tax Increment Grants (TIG) as a public-private partnership tool to advance economic growth and land use planning goals.
Several members of City Council had raised concerns with spending public dollars on parking. City Council member Julie Eiselt who Chairs the City Transportation Committee said that the City and City Council need to better align goals and priorities with economic development and public investment, such as the TIG.
Council member Larken Egleston said he hoped future requests for proposals for projects like Seventh and Tryon wouldn't encourage a developer to provide more parking than what's needed.
Mayor Lyles said she will be recommending a closer look at the city's TIG policy, a primary funding mechanism for infrastructure investments that, frequently, include parking.
WIN
The small win that we achieved is the willingness of the Mayor and City Council to review how TIG’s are used and allocated for future Economic Development deals. TIG’s can be used for affordable housing but historically have not been used that way in the past.
CONCERN
Our big concern is that 7th & Tryon Development maybe setting a precedent as to how other City & County owned land in Uptown is developed. Are we setting a precedent that it is “Too expensive to build affordable housing in Uptown” while leveraging public funding (TIG & CIP Grants). Is this decision setting a precedent for the Hal Marshall building? The County has verbally promised affordable Housing at Hal Marshal. We must hold them to that promise! Our resident deserve the CHOICE to live, work and play in UPTOWN regardless of their income. We must do better for our residents.
Project Overview:
The planned project will include below ground and above ground parking, mixed use space, office tower, multifamily apartment tower and retail facilities. The Economic Development impact will bring 1200-1500 temporary construction jobs, 250 facility based permanent jobs, an office building that is estimated to house 4,000 jobs, $75 million local supplier, $35-$45Million Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE), $4.1 mill in new annual property tax revenue and estimated $674Million in new annual local sales tax revenue.
Board of County Commissioners:
On Tuesday, June 2nd the Board of County Commissioners approved the 7th & Tryon MOU. The County voted to support Affordable Housing developments thru the sell of their land to the Developer ($11.5M), Bank of America funds ($4.2Million) and Developer Contribution ($3Million). The funding will support 110 Affordable Housing Units uptown and 581 Units outside of uptown. Below is the listing of the Affordable Housing projects and the estimated gap funding that will be provided.
