The City Plan Commission met 06/28/2023. One of the items they took up was a request to approve the proposed district boundaries and project plan for Tax Incremental Financing District 13 in Southpoint Commerce Park.
TIFs in general and this TIF specifically had been discussed at the 05/24/2023 commission meeting. The commission ended up approving the item unanimously.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download.
Community and Economic Director Kara Homan told the commission the TIF plan had been prepared by Economic Development Specialist Matt Rehbein who had worked with members of other several departments including Finance, Public Works, Engineering, and Parks Recreation and Facilities. It took into consideration existing city plans such as the Comprehensive Plan, the Outdoor Recreation Plan, and the Trails Master Plan.
Mr. Rehbein told the commission they were proposing TIF 13 as an industrial tax incremental district focused on promoting industry and industrial development and was a continuation of what they had already started at Southpoint Commerce Park with TIF District 6 (now closed) which had allowed them to put in a fair amount of infrastructure to the west of Eisenhower.
The primary purpose of the TID was to install infrastructure between Coop Road and Eisenhower Drive just north of Midway. That land was currently farmed. There had been a number of sales over the past couple years and now the largest parcel available was only 10 acres. In order to both retain current businesses as well as attract new businesses, they wanted to make sure buildable sites were available by installing the infrastructure.
He also noted that there were roughly 30 acres of high-quality wooded wetlands in the area. Those areas would not be used for industrial development, but they were looking at using it for passive recreation such as trails.
Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) said that in other TIF districts a developer would come to them with a development agreement and requests relayed to the TIF. She wanted to know how this industrial TIF differed from the other TIFs in the city.
Mr. Rehbein explained that for TIF 13 they were not proposing any developer incentives. The market for industrial spaces seemed to be healthy so developer incentives weren’t needed. The only incentive provided by TIF 13 was to have the lots already improved with the installation of utility infrastructure.
He did note that if the market changed, they had the option of offering incentives to developers but at this point they weren’t anticipating that.
Alderperson Fenton asked if, going forward, capital improvements in TIF 13 would be paid out of the TIF 13 budget rather than somewhere else in the city’s budget. Mr. Rehbein confirmed that was the case.
Commissioner Adrienne Palm asked for more information on the industrial real estate market and how much demand there was for lots in Southpoint Commerce Park.
Mr. Rehbein said that he had four proposals out to interested businesses. Additionally, he had received a number of other inquiries that had not yet reached the point of a written proposal. Based on the current market, he thought there would be demand for the parcels in Southpoint Commerce Park.
Commissioner Andrew Dane asked if there had been any discussion regarding a timeline for building a trail segment in that area and whether building it would be contingent on reaching any sort of development benchmarks.
Mr. Rehbein said that they did not have a specific timeline for a trail to be built and that building a trail there would be contingent either upon additional increment being generated within the TIF district or possibly receiving a grant. He mentioned that the city had applied for a grant but had not received it; however, that did not mean they would not be successful with a different grant in the future.
[As an aside, the WE Energies trail had been planned to run just to the west of this area between Lake Park Drive and Oneida Street, but that project was suspended after the cost ballooned to over $3 million due to issues with groundwater.]
The commission voted unanimously to approve the creation of TIF District 13.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1101177&GUID=64E45D2E-A05C-44D9-BD4D-3FA0810BA7F8
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