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Council approves $2 million DIA-backed Downtown grant for Julia’s Balcony project amid funding questions
Summary
The council approved the Downtown Investment Authority-backed grant for the ‘Julia’s Balcony’ downtown housing and retail project after DIA said it had identified $2 million from a prior downtown economic development fund rather than from general-fund reserves; vote was 16–1.
The City Council voted 16–1 to approve a Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) resolution supporting public funding for a downtown mixed-use project known in committee as “Julia’s Balcony.” The DIA and the project team presented the appropriation request and emphasized that $2 million of the support will be drawn from a Downtown Economic Development Fund balance tied to a prior, defaulted project rather than from the city’s general reserves.
In Finance Committee discussion and at the full council meeting, council members repeatedly asked where the money would come from. DIA Executive Director Steve Kelly told the council the $2 million had been identified in the DIA’s downtown economic development account tied to an earlier approved project that did not move forward; the funds, he said, would be reallocated through a city appropriation rather than taken from uncommitted general-fund reserves.
Council debate focused on fiscal discipline and the city’s larger cash-incentive pipeline. Council members who supported the project described it as a medium-scale downtown development that would add residents and retail and help incremental downtown revitalization. Several members said they prefer to prioritize smaller and more numerous projects rather than a few large ones, but they supported the request after DIA identified the dedicated downtown development dollars.
Opponents raised concerns that using dedicated downtown dollars could reduce funding available for other planned projects and underscored the council’s broader responsibility to replace reserve dollars when public incentives are advanced. Council members asked DIA to continue seeking TIF (tax increment financing) sources for future local match dollars when possible.
DIA staff and the developer indicated the project timeline would extend into the 2026–27 fiscal year, when additional TIF or DIA allocations could be identified; council members said that timing reduces near-term pressure on the city’s general fund. The council approved the resolution with a single no vote recorded.
