Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Manchester City Council weighs expanded housing projects and options to boost a revolving development fund
Summary
Developers briefed the council on adding new residential units while staff and council explored tapping or increasing a long-standing revolving loan fund, using TIF or tax-rebate incentives, and packaging borrowing in the upcoming budget cycle. Council asked staff to prepare a development agreement for consideration.
Manchester city officials and developers discussed plans to expand multiple housing projects and debated how the city should help finance the next phases.
Developer Wes Schultz told the council he is seeking authority to move forward on an additional 24 units beyond the 12 already built and 12 under construction, and asked the council to authorize a development agreement so he can start paperwork and pursue financing this fall. "I just would like to seek authority from the council and get it rolling," Schultz said during his presentation.
Staff and council members reviewed financing options. The city’s revolving loan fund — discussed in the meeting as a longstanding program with about $50,000 currently cited in conversation — has been used before to bridge projects; participants suggested increasing the fund (one suggestion was a round figure of $100,000) or reissuing repayments as loans. Council members also discussed whether to rely on TIF (tax-increment financing) tools, a 10-year, 85% tax-rebate structure mentioned during the discussion, or general-obligation borrowing packaged in the next budget cycle to lower issuance costs.
Council and staff flagged practical constraints: the current forgivable-loan account does not hold the full cash amount to repeat prior support terms; borrowing or reallocating franchise-fee revenue were presented as possible sources. Staff said they will examine alternatives and return with details during budget preparation and on the next council agenda.
The Opu subdivision (SNR Construction) was discussed in the same funding context: SNR proposed a phase-two build of roughly 18 dwelling units with a construction estimate characterized in the meeting as "just shy of $1 million." The council discussed using a hybrid approach used previously (roughly 50% grant / 50% forgivable loan if property-tax receipts meet targets after 10 years) and noted that some programs require set-asides (for example, residential TIF set-aside rules for low-to-moderate-income housing were discussed).
Next steps: staff said they will prepare a development-agreement draft and a letter of intent for council consideration at the scheduled meeting on the 30th, and will analyze options to increase or revolve the loan fund, evaluate TIF applicability and compliance, and estimate borrowing needs for the capital-improvement plan.
