Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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TO: |
Tom Markus, City Manager |
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CC: |
Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager |
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FROM: |
Britt Crum-Cano, Economic Development Coordinator |
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DATE: |
October 11, 2016 |
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RE: |
Vermont Place IRB and NRA Request |
Please place on CC 10-18-16, Consent Agenda:
Receive request from Vermont LLC to establish a 10-year, 75% Neighborhood Revitalization Area (NRA) for the property located at approximately 800-815 Vermont Street and for Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) financing for the purpose of accessing a sales tax exemption on project construction materials, refer the request to the Public Incentives Review Committee for a meeting on October 19, 2016 and set November 1, 2016 as the date for a public hearing on the proposed NRA and Revitalization Plan.
Please see List of Attachments at the end of this memo.
Project & Request Overview
Vermont LLC is requesting a 10-year, 75% NRA rebate and an Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB) sales tax exemption on construction materials to support the development of two vacant parcels, located at approximately 800-815 Vermont Street in the Downtown Lawrence business district, into a mixed-use, commercial and residential project.
The project is anticipated to add:
· 1st Floor: Commercial/Retail (7,788 square feet of leasable space)
· 2nd Floor: Entrepreneurial Offices (6,504 square feet of leasable space, divided into ~30 offices)
· 3rd-5th Floors: Residential, 12 condominiums, one of which will be permanently set aside for affordable housing
· On-Site Underground Parking: 22 spaces
Vermont LLC is requesting the City, Douglas County and USD 497 participate in the NRA program. The City, County, and School District individually decide their participation in the NRA and each will conduct a public meeting to consider the request. The IRB sales tax exemption is considered only by the City. (Scheduled meetings are shown on the attached request process calendar.)
Actions to Date
At their July 5, 2016 meeting, the City Commission referred the request to staff for analysis, and referred the request to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board and Public Incentives Review Committee for review and recommendation.
Analysis
City Staff has completed a cost-benefit analysis in accordance with the City’s NRA policy issue. Additionally, as was discussed in July, the City retained the services of National Development Council (NDC) to perform a gap analysis (“but for”) of the proposal in order to ascertain whether the project required a subsidy and if so, what is the identified gap to make the project viable. The technical report is included as an attachment at the end of this memo.
Staff believes the request and analysis is ready for PIRC review and recommendation.
October 10, 2016: Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB) Review
At their October 10, 2016 meeting, AHAB reviewed the project’s affordable housing component and voted to recommend the project to the City Commission. Motion passed 6 to 0, with one abstention.
Request Processing Calendar
A draft request processing calendar is included as an attachment at the end of this memo. The below meetings are tentatively scheduled for consideration of this request:
October 18, 2016: City Commission to receive revised request, refer to PIRC for review and recommendation, and set public hearing date
October 19, 2016: Public Incentives Review Committee to review request and provide recommendation to City, County, and USD 497 School Board
November 1 2016: City Commission public hearing to receive PIRC recommendation and consider request
November 2, 2016: County Commission to receive PIRC recommendation and consider request
November 14, 2016: School Board to receive PIRC recommendation and consider request
November 15, 2016 City Commission final action on request
List of Attachments: Vermont Place NRA & IRB