Council advances developer-backed TIF bonds for Reserve at Millbrook; developer details 251-unit plan

The Tippecanoe County Council advanced Ordinance 2026-27-CL on first reading to authorize conduit-style, tax-increment-financing (TIF) bonds for the Reserve at Millbrook, a proposed 251-unit multifamily project with a $62.5 million phase-one budget. Outside counsel Cam Starnes told the council these are nonrecourse bonds supported by an 80% TIF pledge from the redevelopment commission and stressed that the county bears no obligation for shortfalls: the developer would make up any deficient payments.

Grant Deaton, senior development director at The Ridge Group, presented the project and financing assumptions, describing a two-phase delivery with phase one comprising 251 units and phase two a 10,000-square-foot retail component. He said the financing plan assumes institutional equity of about $18.7 million and a $43.8 million construction loan, and that Baker Tilly’s projections supported a maximum bond parameter in the ordinance of $11 million for the 25-year debt term. “These are developer-backed bonds, meaning any shortfall in the TIF revenues would be made up by the developer,” Cam Starnes said.

Council members asked detailed questions about allocation areas, parking (the project would provide 412 spaces, including 50 detached garages), acreage (about 11.65 acres combined for phase 1 and phase 2), and timetable; the developer said the project would seek final approvals in September and anticipated closing financing and beginning construction work in late 2026 and early 2027. The ordinance passed first reading by roll call, 7-0.

The council’s approval on first reading authorizes continuation of the TIF/bond process; the economic development commission and redevelopment commission will finalize interparty documents and taxpayer agreements before bond issuance if the project proceeds.