On Oct. 8, 2025, the Community Development Committee voted 5-0 to remove the third amendment to the development agreement with RISE Apartments LLC covering property in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District No. 11, a change that adjusts the assessed-value timing so the developer can qualify for tax-increment payments.

Committee action matters because the developer did not meet the assessed-value threshold required under the agreement at the originally scheduled date, largely because the project’s lease-up was slower than anticipated. Pushing the assessed-value measurement date to Jan. 1, 2026 will allow the project to be considered for payments based on its 2025 assessed value and receive the first adjusted payment in August 2026.

Lily Paul, a staff member who presented the item, said the RISE Apartments project — described as a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) development with some townhomes — was completed in July 2024 but “the assessed value that was required was not reached” because lease-up was incomplete. Paul explained the amendment change “push[es] that back in their development agreement so they can…still be under contract” and to enable earlier, adjusted payments for a subsidized project.

Director Homan added that the city assessor accounts for incoming rents when setting assessed values for rental projects and that subsidized rents can lower an assessor’s valuation if lease-up is incomplete. Homan said the developer reported “currently at 2 vacancies and almost full capacity,” and that the department expects the lease-up shortfall to resolve by Jan. 1, 2026 so the assessor will reflect the higher occupancy.

The committee moved and seconded the item and then voted; the clerk recorded a 5-0 outcome. The committee did not specify a floor motioner or seconder on the public record during the item discussion. The record shows the five members present voted in favor: Patty Heffernan (District 8), Denise Fenton (District 6), Maya Jones (District 10), Josh Lambert (District 1) and Brad Meltzer (District 2).

Discussion focused on mechanics rather than changing the substance of the development agreement: staff said payments are typically made the year after an assessed value threshold is reached; under the amendment the threshold date is shifted to Jan. 1, 2026 so the first payment tied to that adjusted assessed value would be paid in August 2026. No additional conditions or amendments to payment formulas were announced during the meeting.

The committee completed the vote with no public hearing on the item and moved on to subsequent agenda business.