Planning commission finds Victoria Ridge Second Edition land use conforms to city plan as developer seeks affordable-housing TIF

Community and Economic Development Director Jen Brewington told the Planning Commission that Inland Development Partners is proposing a 65-unit rental apartment building on about 4.1 acres and has requested tax increment financing (TIF) in the form of an affordable housing TIF district.

"The developer has requested a business subsidy in the form of tax increment financing through the establishment of an affordable housing TIF district which will be number 1 dash 10," Brewington said during her presentation.

Staff said the proposed building would include 32 market-rate units and 33 units set aside for households at or below 50% of area median income (AMI). Brewington described the project as four stories with a mix of alcove, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units; staff noted a total of 287 planned parking spaces (59 in a garage and 228 surface stalls). The parcel has been annexed into the city.

Brewington advised the commission that state law requires the Planning Commission to review proposed TIF districts for alignment with the city's comprehensive plan and land-use designations. She said the Planning Commission’s role is advisory; final approval of the TIF plan and development program modification rests with the City Council. The city’s public hearing on the development district and the TIF plan is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025, according to staff.

Commissioners asked about density, adjacent land uses and affordability details. City Planner Brian McCann placed the site south of the railroad tracks and adjacent to the previously approved Victoria Ridge townhouse development; he said the apartment parcel is near the commercial parcel planned for a Kwik Trip site. McCann said the project falls within the city's R-4 high-density designation and that the density remains within the stated 12–36 units-per-acre range identified by staff.

Commissioners also asked whether the affordable units would be required to accept Section 8 vouchers; Brewington said that was not the same requirement as the 50% AMI affordability condition and she did not state that Section 8 acceptance was required.

When a commissioner asked what AMI the city is using for calculations, Brewington said the city’s example AMI figure was approximately $124,000 for a family unit and that 50% of that AMI would be roughly $62,000. Staff noted these figures as guidance for the commission’s land-use review; precise AMI tables would be part of the TIF and Council materials.

After discussion, a commissioner moved that the Planning Commission find that the proposed modifications to the development program for Development District Number 1 and the TIF plan for Tax Increment Financing District Number 110 conform to the city's plans for development and redevelopment as a whole. The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The Planning Commission’s recommendation will go to the City Council for final action on the TIF district and any subsidy package.

Staff said Inland will return with a planned-unit-development amendment and final plat materials for related Victoria Ridge parcels at an upcoming meeting. Brewington also said the 33 affordable units would count toward the city’s affordability goals reported to the Metropolitan Council; staff said the Metropolitan Council target for the city was in the mid-400s for total affordable units and that the proposed 33 units would contribute to that target.