Germantown board authorizes IDB to begin review of Standard Germantown TIF application

Germantown’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday, Jan. 13, voted 4-1 to authorize the city’s Industrial Development Board (IDB) to begin a formal review of a tax-increment financing (TIF) application submitted by CRE DevCo for the Standard Germantown development.

The vote enables the IDB, aided by outside counsel, to evaluate whether the proposed TIF and any requested reimbursements meet state law and local policy before the matter returns to the BMA for further hearings and final action.

Director Cameron Ross, economic and community development director, told the board the development has an extended approval history: outline plans were approved in 2018, amended in 2019 (recorded 2021) to add multifamily, phase 1 began in 2022, and an outline-plan amendment in 2023 increased building heights and adjusted ground-floor commercial. Phase 2 — on the south end — is planned to include ground-floor retail, a parking structure and 320 multifamily units; an additional roughly 60 fee-simple condominium units were described in the application. Ross also summarized the project-wide totals cited in the application: just over 400,000 square feet of office, about 100,000 square feet of retail, 240 hotel rooms and 320 multifamily units.

Ross explained TIF basics under state law, telling the board that allowable TIF uses include public infrastructure (roads, parking facilities, traffic signals, sidewalks), utility and stormwater work, site acquisition, bonded costs and related debt service. He said the application and concurrent resolution are the early steps in the statutory process and that the developer’s submission will also be filed with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the state comptroller and Shelby County for their review.

Vice Mayor Gibson, who made the motion to authorize the IDB review, said he supported sending the application to the IDB because the board and the appointed IDB membership would subject the request to a thorough, deliberative process: “I simply just want to say I’m in full support of an authorization for the IDB to begin that very thorough process,” he said.

Several aldermen spoke at length before the vote. Alderman Hicks said he would support letting the IDB review the request but expressed reservations about using TIFs in what he described as an already well-resourced area: “TIFs . . . were originally created for blighted areas,” he said, and asked staff and the IDB to ensure the city understands incremental service needs — police, fire and emergency medical services — and the long-term cost implications. Alderman Yulecki (spelled in minutes as Yulicki/Yulecki) asked staff to ensure the IDB’s review includes the incremental public-service impacts and associated costs. Alderman Sanders announced he opposed the resolution, saying he sees TIFs as diverting essential public funds for long periods and questioned whether the city would realize net benefit over the requested term.

Alderman Tony Salvaggio said he trusts the IDB’s experience and expects an objective, merit-based review. Staff clarified during debate that the application describes a request for roughly $40 million in combined city-and-county increment (the application materials reference about $43 million total) and that, in the city’s presentation, the city would receive roughly one-third of that total increment if a TIF is approved.

The motion to authorize the IDB’s review was made by Vice Mayor Gibson and seconded by Alderman Yulecki. Roll call recorded four ayes (Vice Mayor Gibson; Alderman Hicks; Alderman Yulecki; Alderman Salvaggio) and one no (Alderman Sanders). The board’s action only authorizes the IDB review; it does not approve any TIF terms, reimbursements or financing. The IDB review will include additional studies, public hearings and a subsequent return to the board for final decisions.

Next steps include IDB consideration, completion of any required economic analyses and public hearings at both the IDB and BMA levels. Ross and staff said required materials, including the applicant’s draft economic report, were already part of the submission to the board and that state review agencies will also participate in subsequent steps.