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Finance Committee forwards conditional grant for 505–507 Amherst Street to full council
Summary
The Finance Committee recommended the City Council conditionally approve a business development tax-abatement grant for Louis Properties LLC for vacant buildings at 505 and 507 Amherst Street under Winchester's Enterprise Zone rules; the grant is tied to completion milestones and a 24-month deadline.
The Winchester Finance Committee voted to forward to the full City Council a resolution recommending conditional approval of a business development grant for Louis Properties LLC for the vacant properties at 505 and 507 Amherst Street.
The measure would apply Winchester’s Enterprise Zone business development grant rules to provide a five-year, incremental tax abatement equal to 50% of the increase in assessed value attributable to improvements (the new assessed value less the old assessed value). Jeff Bittner, executive director of the Economic Development Authority, said the award applies only to the incremental increase and that the owners must complete the work and meet investment thresholds to qualify.
The resolution, which the committee recommended by voice vote, includes a 24-month completion requirement. Bittner told the committee that the owners currently plan interior work including apartments and roughly 5,000 square feet of renovated space, and that the developer estimates an additional roughly $1.5 million in investment beyond the work already identified. He said the property’s current assessed value “has a little over a million eight assessed value,” which meets the program threshold. Bittner also described the administrative process: the developer pays taxes during the calendar year, requests the rebate the following January, the city transfers funds to the EDA, and the EDA returns the rebate to the developer.
Council members asked staff to confirm how the assessment is captured at application and upon completion, and whether increases in assessed value after additional work would be captured within the two-year window. Bittner said assessments are applied at the time of application and then updated when the work is complete; the abatement applies only to the incremental increase and only if the project is completed within the 24-month deadline.
The committee’s recommendation will go to the full Winchester Common Council for a final vote.
Votes at the committee: the committee moved and seconded forwarding the resolution with a recommendation for approval; the motion carried on an affirmative voice vote.
