Developer outlines 40-acre 'Uptown' plan, seeks $36.2M in qualified infrastructure incentives

A developer’s representative, Tyler Burke, gave a detailed financial and phasing presentation for a proposed 40-acre Uptown mixed-use project in Belton. Burke said the project would include multifamily residential, pad sites, and a large entertainment anchor (go-kart/theater concept). He presented an economic model that estimated total project costs near $223 million and about $36.2 million of 'qualified' horizontal/site infrastructure costs that would be candidates for incentives (Chapter 100 sales-tax exemption on construction materials, a 1% CID sales tax on retail within the district, TDD, and an STRA — sales tax reimbursement agreement — with a fifteen-year term).

Burke outlined an expected phasing sequence with the southern multifamily and initial road work first; he projected roughly 626 permanent jobs (including on-site) and 638 net new residents tied to the buildout, and he modeled a 27-year horizon for the incentive payoff (with a likely ~27-year realistic exhaustion period for TDD/STRA modeling). He emphasized that the project economics require public assistance to make the site feasible given heavy site-preparation costs, including substantial cut-and-fill work and stormwater infrastructure.

During council questions, members pressed for detail on phasing, caps and termination language on incentive tools, the scope of public parking and maintenance responsibilities, and traffic/staging improvements (stacking at signalized intersections). Staff said more detailed development agreements and specific dollar caps will come back to council and that all incentives would be publicly reviewed. The council did not vote on incentives at the meeting; members asked staff to develop more detail, cap options and formal exhaustion/termination mechanisms for the proposed incentives.