Committee backs developer‑backed TIF bonds for JC Hart’s Riverwalk apartment and parking project

A City committee voted unanimously to send an ordinance authorizing developer‑backed taxable tax‑increment‑financing (TIF) bonds for the JC Hart Riverwalk project to the full council with a favorable recommendation.

Staff said the ordinance would authorize the administration to issue taxable economic development TIF revenue bonds to provide upfront financing for a two‑building, 291‑unit apartment development that includes a wrapped, 398‑space parking garage. The project’s minimum private investment committed in the development agreement was listed at $61,500,000.

The financing structure described to the committee is a project‑based TIF in which 90% of the new incremental property tax revenue over a 25‑year allocation period would be pledged to cover debt service on the bond issuance; an additional 6% of increment (capped at $1,342,000) was negotiated to absorb a portion of Crowe’s parking into the structured garage. Staff estimated the bond issuance would generate about $14.8 million in gross proceeds and roughly $11.9 million in net proceeds after issuance costs and two years of…