Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Developer seeks city sign‑off to use industrial revenue bonds for Blackmore Marketplace expansion
Summary
Developer Flower and Stone and City staff presented Phase 2 of Blackmore Marketplace, a roughly 200,000-square-foot retail expansion backed by third‑party fiscal analyses and an industrial revenue bond (IRB) conduit application that staff asked council to allow them to pursue. Council agreed to have staff move the application forward.
Karen Blumenstein, principal of Flower and Stone, told the Casper City Council the company is asking the city to serve as a conduit issuer for industrial revenue bonds to support Phase 2 of Blackmore Marketplace, a retail expansion the developer said will include junior anchors, outparcels and a future grocery site.
Blumenstein said the project already has two tenants open, construction began in January 2025 and the developer has invested about $47,000,000 so far. "We're 85% built," she said, and described Phase 2 as "almost 200,000 square feet" that will add junior anchors, supporting small shops and a grocer parcel. She said independent third‑party reports and a fiscal‑impact analysis were included with the application's packet.
City staff outlined the policy the council adopted last December that allows the city to issue conduit IRBs for qualifying projects and said the bonds are structured so the city is the issuer but not liable for repayment; the developer would guarantee payment. As staff described it, the bonds can lower financing costs for developers and help close the gap between construction costs and tenant market rents. The city attorney and bond counsel have reviewed statute and the staff fiscal review, and staff said they believe the application meets the city's IRB criteria.
Blumenstein highlighted projected economic benefits: she said the development team expects roughly $58,000,000 in taxable sales at stabilization and projected that cumulative taxable sales could grow to about $85,000,000 over the first 10 years. She also described a construction employment surge during buildout and roughly 400 permanent jobs when the phase is fully occupied. The developer framed a new public park, improved pedestrian and transit connections (including a new bus stop in front of the grocer parcel), and programming such as movie nights as community benefits tied to the project.
Councilors focused questions on statutory risk, potential challenges from local critics and the practical differences between IRBs and other incentives. Staff and bond counsel said they had vetted the statutory authority and the application process; the city attorney said restrictions or deed conditions could change appraised values but did not identify legal obstacles sufficient to block the application. After Q&A, staff recommended council direct staff to move the IRB application through the city's process. Councilors indicated consensus to let staff proceed with the application and continued review.
What happens next: staff will continue review with bond counsel, finalize any required findings and return to the council with the formal conduit bond documents for any future approval steps. The packet on the application included the fiscal impact analysis and staff summary prepared for council review.
