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RDA approves up to $2.9 million in tax-increment participation for 200-unit riverfront townhome project
Summary
Reno's Redevelopment Agency agreed to a pay-as-you-go tax-increment financing (TIF) package covering about 90% of eligible public improvements (roughly $2.9M) to help bridge a financing gap for a 200-unit townhome project along the Truckee River; council and staff emphasized audit rights and interagency coordination for river-path design.
The Redevelopment Agency voted to approve up to $2.9 million in pay-as-you-go tax-increment participation (roughly 90% of the project's modeled increment through 2035) to help close a financing gap for Valeo's proposed East Commercial Row development: a 200-unit for-rent townhome project adjacent to the Truckee River.
Staff and consultant SB Friedman analyzed the proposal and determined the project would not proceed without agency participation; the consultant identified a $3.24 million "but-for" gap. Brian McCardell, revitalization manager, told the board the requested participation would reimburse eligible public improvements (street extension, sound wall and drainage, river-front trail and screening) on a pay-as-you-go basis after the project is completed. "This project cannot get secure outside financing without the capital stack coming together and the redevelopment agency's participation," McCardell said.
Valeo representative Conrad Sik described company experience with infill and student-housing projects and emphasized the site's potential to add attainable workforce housing and activate an underutilized river edge. Council and board members probed the plan for river-path coordination with the Truckee River flood authority and RTC, the timeline for assembling parcels (including one owned by Waste Management) and the limits imposed by a single emergency-access point (which presently constrains height and unit count).
The board agreed to the staff recommendation of 90% participation rather than 100% (staff said the margin between 90% and 100% was marginal in the consultant's modeling and that 90% made the project feasible while leaving some increment for RDA use). The agreement will include audit rights over construction costs and provisions to review financials if the project refinances or sells in the first 10 years. The RDA emphasized the funds will be used solely for public improvements and that reimbursements are only made after taxes are assessed and paid.
Board members and council asked staff to refine interagency coordination on river design standards, consider the RDA advisory board's role in vetting future projects, and keep the public informed as parcel assemblage proceeds. The motion to authorize staff to execute an owner participation agreement consistent with the terms passed unanimously.
