Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves 20-year TID, city to land-bank lots for affordable housing at Voigt Farm
Summary
The Madison Common Council unanimously approved a development agreement creating Tax Incremental District (TID) No. 55, Voigt Farm, authorizing a 20-year mixed-use TID and allowing the city to acquire and land-bank lots intended to support future affordable housing development.
The Madison Common Council on May 6 unanimously adopted a development agreement establishing a 20-year mixed-use tax incremental district (TID No. 55, Voigt Farm) and authorizing the mayor and city clerk to sign a development agreement with Starkweather LLC to support development of the former Voigt Farm site.
The agreement creates TID No. 55 to assist in transforming the property into 13 lots that may be sold to market-rate and affordable housing developers. Council members moved and seconded adoption of the item and, with no objection, the council recorded a unanimous vote in favor.
Why it matters: City staff and the developer told the council the proposal would allow the city to use TIF funds to acquire and land-bank lots intended to preserve options for affordable housing, while other lots could be sold to market-rate developers. The land-banking approach preserves sites for future subsidy packages and gives the city flexibility to assemble financing packages that pair land with other subsidies.
City staff described how the land-banking process would work in practice. Director Matt Wachter said the city’s land banking policy “generally directs us to look for sites that are, appropriate for affordable housing development, that are on on transit and other amenities,” and that the city can dispose of land in different ways — for example by running an RFP together with the Community Development Division or packaging land with loans and other subsidies.
Developer representative Helen Bradbury told the council the developer intends to partner with nonprofit affordable housing builders. She said the development team is “currently negotiating with a very large Section 42 Affordable Housing Developer” but cautioned that tax-credit projects take time to finance and would likely not be in the very first phase. Bradbury said two market-rate projects are likely to be built before the subsidized project.
Council members asked staff how TIF assistance for future buyers of individual lots would be handled. Wachter said those requests would follow the normal TIF application and underwriting process and could include conditions set by the Finance Committee or council, including affordable-housing requirements if the committee or council chose to impose them.
The council excluded item 63 from the consent agenda at a member’s request, held a short question-and-answer exchange with the registrant (Bradbury) and staff, and then adopted the development agreement by unanimous vote.
Votes at a glance: Legistar 87,871 — motion to adopt the development agreement establishing TID No. 55 (Voigt Farm). Moved and seconded; outcome: approved (unanimous, recorded by the council).
