CRA staff briefed the board on potential property disposition, brownfield incentives and an infrastructure payment the CRA will fund to support a planned development.

Staff said the agency received an unsolicited bid approximately half of the appraised value for a parcel under consideration and that the CCRA advisory committee recommended moving forward with a formal appraisal-based sale process. Staff told the board that state CRA statute requires public notice and competitive consideration of buyers; if the CRA and city agree to sell the property the sale would proceed at appraised market rate and could include an accompanying incentive package for development.

A staff member said the appraisal and a developer estimate indicated new construction costs of just over $1 million and a potential incentive package of roughly $120,000 — roughly twice the land value in that quick estimate — but the board was told the land would be sold at market price if the sale proceeds. Staff also noted there are two identified brownfield sites near the parcel; one site appears on the FDEP (state) Oculus list and the brownfield program could allow sales-tax rebates to a developer that includes workforce housing.

Staff also said money is budgeted for a waterline the development requires to meet fire-flow pressure and to upgrade neighborhood pressure. The CRA told the board that the utility work must occur regardless of the land sale and that the city, CRA and developer are jointly funding the work; staff said the CRA will move forward to expedite the waterline so financing and bank requirements do not delay the project closing.

On separate property matters, staff said the CRA owns a house that formerly served as a police substation that needs repairs; staff proposed renovating it for a qualified buyer using SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) assistance. The board was told the city and county are finalizing a $70,000 SHIP assistance arrangement for qualified homebuyers, which would lower purchase costs for eligible households and make sale at or near the post-rehabilitation market value feasible.

Staff said the specific land-sale question and any incentive package will return on a future agenda with required legal notices and recommendations from the CCRA advisory committee.