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Commissioners receive notice of CRA abatement for 156-unit Founders Grove development in Mount Vernon
Summary
County staff notified commissioners that the City of Mount Vernon has enacted a CRA abatement for a proposed 156-unit, age-targeted rental development called Founders Grove; the county was given notice (not approval), and staff outlined negotiated abatement terms and estimated local revenue impacts.
Chair opened the meeting and introduced Sam Filkins of the Area Development Foundation to brief the board on a community reinvestment area (CRA) abatement tied to a Mount Vernon multifamily project.
Filkins said the project, called Founders Grove, sits on Upper Gilchrist Road north of the Brockford Apartments and would be a 156-unit, age‑targeted rental community developed by Lemon Development. "They're gonna be investing over $40,000,000 into the site," Filkins said, adding that the project will include mostly duplex units and four small apartment buildings along with amenities such as courts.
Filkins stressed that the county was being given formal notice of the CRA abatement and that notice had also been provided to local schools. He said the abatement was a negotiated arrangement: the original multifamily CRA formula had allowed a 100% abatement for 15 years; a prior negotiation produced 80% for 10 years, and the county ultimately negotiated the package down to a 50% abatement for 10 years to meet developer constraints. "We really try not to give tax abatements out just to give them out," Filkins said, describing the negotiation as an effort to balance community benefit and developer feasibility.
On local revenue, Filkins provided estimates for school receipts tied to the abatement and said figures were projections: he said the school district(estimated 50% share) would be roughly $148,557 annually during the 10-year abatement period and that receipts would increase once the abatement expires; Filkins characterized the numbers as estimates prepared for the schools. He also told commissioners the parcel is already in a tax-increment financing (TIF) district and that the 10-year CRA abatement would not alter prior TIF impacts on township road, fire and EMS levies.
Commissioners asked for clarification on timing and phasing; Filkins said the developer expects to complete buildout by 2027 and expects a partial first year while construction finishes. Filkins also said Lemon Development previously built the Danbury facility and that the county has been working with multiple developers in the area, including a different developer, Rockford, on adjacent phases.
The briefing was presented as an informational notice to the commission rather than a request for county approval; Filkins asked only that the commissioners and school district be informed of the CRA abatement and the expected local impacts. The board did not take formal action on the abatement at the meeting.
Next steps: commissioners indicated they would follow up to make sure township trustees and other affected taxing entities have the information they need about the TIF and the CRA notice.
