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Council approves TIF of up to $6.5 million for Oxworth Apartments amid affordable-housing concerns
Summary
The City Council approved tax-increment financing support for the Oxworth Apartments redevelopment project by a 7–0 vote; community members urged more affordable units while developers said the subsidy is needed to remediate contamination and assemble parcels.
The Omaha City Council unanimously approved tax-increment financing (TIF) support for the Oxworth Apartments redevelopment plan, a proposed new 94-unit market-rate residential building on the former Alameda Dairy site. The motion passed 7–0.
City Planning staff described the project as a residential infill on roughly 1.6 acres that would add 94 market-rate units in a four- to five-story building. Don Seaton of City Planning said the project represents “a $43,000,000 investment in the neighborhood” and listed TIF support as part of the package. The council agenda lists the TIF amount “in an amount up to $6,511,697.” At the hearing the project representatives referred to the TIF figure in slightly different terms; the developer team later described the support figure as $6,000,597 while discussing project financing and remediation work.
Tom McFly, representing the developer Clarity Development Company, said the project will retain and renovate the site’s historic cold storage warehouse as a community space and leasing office and will require substantial site remediation, including removing historic fill and contamination. McFly said the developer has dug an initial 30-foot excavation to remove contaminated soil and expects significant foundation and remediation work before construction.
Several residents and community members spoke in the public hearing. Cheryl Weston said she supported development of the site but urged the council and developers to include more affordable units, arguing market-rate rents would displace lower-income residents and noting that many in the area cannot afford projected rents. Council members debated the role of TIF in enabling the project; supporters said the project would not move forward without TIF because of environmental cleanup costs and the complexity of assembling long-vacant parcels.
Councilmember Maclay said financing for low-income housing tax credits and interest-rate pressures had made prior affordable-housing proposals infeasible, and he supported the current TIF request as a way to activate a long-vacant lot. Councilmember Rowe performed an affordability math check during public comment to compare proposed rents to a $21/hour wage and noted that a studio could be within reach for a single earner at that wage, while other speakers focused on one-bedroom affordability concerns.
Councilmembers approved the TIF-supported redevelopment plan by roll call; the motion passed 7–0. The project team said the TIF is intended to make the project feasible by offsetting demolition, environmental remediation and foundational work on the former dairy site; the developer expects the project to increase housing supply and to retain historic building fabric for community uses.
Ending — The council’s approval clears a major financing hurdle for the Oxworth Apartments project, but community commenters and some council members urged the developer and city to continue seeking ways to increase affordability and community benefits as project design and implementation proceed.
