The City Council on Tuesday afternoon approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District that will include both The Bend at the former Alstom site and the Westside, where the current College Hill Courts is set to be replaced with a new residential section.
The County Commission on Wednesday morning also voted to approve the sprawling TIF District.
It did so after Commissioner David Sharpe raised an issue on the TIF including funds for a new career and technical school at the Gateway Building on the Westside. He said he was not against career and technical education, but he said it was up to the School Board and not the city and county on deciding on school construction.
Commissioner Steve Highlander said he felt the city's inclusion of $32 million from its TIF proceeds for the downtown school amounted to "a bribe" or "coercion" to get the county's approval to the project.
Commissioner Joe Graham said, "Words like bribe and coerce are hard to swallow. The city doesn't have to give us one red cent. The city got out of the education business a long time ago, but the city is trying to do a good deed here."
He said the new school would benefit nearby Westside students. He said, "This is a no brainer."
Developer Jimmy White of Urban Story Ventures has said he was ready to launch the far-flung Bend project as soon as the $115 million TIF gained full approval.
It is set, when fully developed, to bring up to $2.5 billion in new development, including several hotels and a mix of residential and retail development, officials said. It will also include several high-rise buildings near the river.
The City Council also passed a resolution in support of the Chattanooga Housing Authority's $50 million application for a federal CHOICE grant needed to make the Westside project a reality.
City Council Chair Raquetta Dotley added several amendments that she said were aimed at insuring that all current Westside residents could stay on the property if they wish.
They are:
1. Until all current residents of College Hill Courts and Gateway Tower are provided
permanent housing, CHA shall be required to provide updates to City Council at least semi-annually regarding the status of the implementation of the relocation plan and also provide updates on the status of construction of replacement housing and financing plans for such housing;
2. Until all current residents of College Hill Courts and Gateway Tower are provided
permanent housing, CHA shall be required to annually survey the residents of College Hill Courts and Gateway Towers regarding their desire to continue living in the Westside Evolves footprint;
3. To the fullest extent permitted by law, CHA will agree to minimize the effect of relocation on vulnerable populations in College Hill Courts and Gateway Towers, such as senior citizens with mobility challenges and disabled persons, by minimizing the number of relocations, including temporary relocations, that may be required to such persons. The updates provided by CHA shall address the relocation efforts relating to these vulnerable populations;
4. The City of Chattanooga may hire its own consultant to review the relocation work of CHA's relocation consultant;
5. The Chattanooga Housing Authority shall provide a Right to Return to all current residents of the Westside property based on federal standards which currently prohibit any resident to return who has been convicted of methamphetamine production on a housing authority site and/or the return of any individual who has had any sexual conviction that renders an individual to be placed on the sexual offender list for life; and
6. There will be included claw back language for any Tax Increment Financing credits in the event that the Downtown Career and Technical School by Hamilton County Government and/or Hamilton County Board of Education is not constructed and completed during the term of any TIF proceeds provided for this project.
Jermaine Freeman, chief of staff to Mayor Tim Kelly, earlier called the project a rare economic development opportunity for the city.
Developer White termed it "a huge project."
He said when his group acquired the property there were only three workers at the site. He said there are now several hundred in over 100,000 square feet of space.
Under a TIF, tax proceeds from the site are set aside to cover infrastructure and certain other items.
This TIF is to involve both property and sales tax for city and county governments.
The TIF is for 20 years.
Some of the proceeds are to go toward infrastructure for the Westside Evolves project where the Westside public housing is to eventually be torn down and replaced with new housing that is to include affordable units.