Marion council approves Broad and Main development agreement; approval contingent on property closing

The Marion City Council on Dec. 19 approved a development agreement with DCI Properties LLC for the Broad and Main project and advanced a separate urban renewal financing step tied to the same development.

Lianne, a city staff presenter, described the Broad and Main project as adjacent to the future Central Plaza and said it includes an already-constructed Broad and Main on Seventh Avenue and a proposed multi-residential building on Sixth Avenue. "The incentive being offered to the developer is a $3,500,000 grant and 3.4 $1,000,000 rebate of 80% for 20 years, and the timeline for construction completion would be by December 31, 2026," Lianne said.

City Attorney Cara told the council the development agreement approved as Resolution No. 32,211 is contingent on DCI completing acquisition of the real estate according to terms the parties previously outlined in a settlement agreement. "It is a term of our agreement with DCI that they will have that real estate acquired according to the terms of that settlement agreement no later than January 16, 2025. If that does not happen, then we have the option to terminate the development agreement," Cara said.

Council members approved Resolution No. 32,211 by voice vote. The recorded vote was not taken; the meeting transcript records the motion as approved by the council without a roll-call tally.

Council also opened and closed a public hearing on a separate, related financing step and approved Resolution No. 32,212 as part of the process toward a General Obligation Annual Appropriation Urban Renewal Loan Agreement. City staff clarified that the action on Resolution No. 32,212 is a procedural authorization that does not itself authorize the sale of bonds. "In order to do the bonds, we have a whole another resolution that comes forward at the time we would make a sale. So this does not at all authorize as in the actual sale of the bond. It's just a step in the process," a staff member explained.

Next steps identified in the meeting: the real estate transaction must close by Jan. 16, 2025, per the contingency in the development agreement; if it does not, the city has the option to terminate the agreement. Any actual bond sale to finance the grant or rebate will require additional council action at a later meeting.

Votes at the meeting on the development agreement and the urban renewal authorization were recorded as approved by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.