The city of Milwaukee’s Common Council recently approved the closure of three tax incremental financing (TIF) districts, which will add about $61.3 million to the city’s tax base, according to the city’s annual TIF report.
In addition, the city should post even bigger property tax base gains when it closes out some other TIF districts in 2010 and 2011.
Including the three that are being closed this year, the city has 48 TIF districts, which have a total of $1.2 billion in incremental property value. That is about 3.7 percent of the city’s total property value of $32.3 billion.
Last year the city closed one TIF district, the Historic King Place TIF district, which added about $2.2 million to the city’s tax base.
The city also created one new TIF district last year, the Bishop’s Creek TIF district.
The incremental property value is the amount that the value of the properties in the TIF districts has increased since the districts were created. When a TIF district is created the property tax revenue that goes from properties in the district to local governments is frozen. The property tax revenue from the increased value of those properties (the increment) is used to pay for improvements in the TIF district. Once the improvements are paid for, the TIF is closed and the tax revenue from the increased property value goes to the local governments.
Therefore, local governments, including the city, county and school district, get a property tax boost when TIF districts are closed.
The TIF districts that the city is closing this year are: the North Avenue industrial jobs bank TIF, the Riverworks TIF and the Wilson Commons TIF.
The North Avenue industrial jobs bank TIF district has not achieved its original goal of attracting manufacturing jobs, according to the city’s TIF report. Much of the district is now overlapped by another TIF district and funds from the TIF district for the 875 E. Wisconsin Ave. development in downtown Milwaukee were shifted to pay off this TIF, which will add almost $9 million in incremental value to the city’s property tax base.
The Riverworks TIF district was created to redevelop 32 acres of industrial property between Capitol Drive, Keefe Avenue, North Booth Street and North Palmer Street. The site was the former location of an American Motors assembly plant. Development on the site now includes a Wal-Mart store an In-Place Machining facility and a 116,000-square-foot industrial facility developed by CenterPoint Properties. Closing the Riverworks TIF will add $36.4 million in incremental value to the city’s tax base.
The Wilson Commons TIF district was created to redevelop the site of the former DePaul Hospital and Treatment center at 4143 S. 13th St. Tarantino & Co. developed three integrated senior housing facilities on the property with 17 villa units, a 152-unit senior living center and a 75-unit residential care complex. The total project cost was $22.6 million, and $1.9 million in TIF funds were provided. Closing the Wilson Commons TIF will add almost $16 million in incremental value to the city’s tax base.
The city could add a lot more to its tax base with scheduled TIF district closures in 2010 and 2011, according to the city’s annual TIF report.
In 2010 the city could close out three TIF districts adding $220 million to the city’s property tax base. That includes the Erie/Jefferson Riverwalk TIF district in the Third Ward, which would add almost $119 million to the city’s property tax base. That TIF district has the second highest incremental property value of all of the city’s TIF districts.
The TIF district with the highest incremental property value is the Beerline “B” TIF district, which sparked the residential development along Commerce Street, just north of downtown. The Beerline “B” TIF is scheduled to be closed in 2014.
The TIF district with the third highest incremental property value is the Time Warner/Manpower TIF district, which was used to attract the Manpower Inc. corporate headquarters and to redevelop a former power plant building into the Milwaukee offices for Time Warner Cable. That TIF district has $112 million incremental property value and is scheduled to be closed in 2024.
In 2011 the city could close five TIF districts adding almost $230 million to the city’s property tax base. That includes TIF districts for the Third Ward riverwalk, Midtown Center and the 875 E. Wisconsin office building in downtown Milwaukee.
Germantown
L.T. Hampel Corp. plans to build a 59,000-square-foot addition to its facility at W194 N11551 McCormick Dr., Germantown. The facility currently has 100,000 square feet of space. With the expansion the company plans to add about 10 employees. Currently about 80 people work there. L.T. Hampel Corp. is a thermoforming plastic manufacturer.
Mt. Pleasant
Best Buy plans to move its current store at 2630 S. Green Bay Road next door to the vacant former Circuit City store at 2710 S. Green Bay Road. This is a downsizing for the Best Buy store. The former Circuit City store has 33,000 square feet of space and the current Best Buy store has 48,000 square feet of space.
Waukesha
A two-story, 8,500-square-foot office and vehicle maintenance building, and a salt and vehicle storage building, for Winter Services Inc. is planned for a vacant lot at the northwest corner of Sentry Drive and Chapman Drive.
Greenfield
Twilight Burgers LLC plans to demolish the vacant former Rusty Skillet restaurant building at 4763 S. 27th St. and build a 1,700-square-foot Sonic Drive-In Restaurant in its place. Twilight Burgers has also opened a Sonic in West Milwaukee and is building Sonic restaurants in Waukesha and Oak Creek. Twilight Burgers has an agreement with Oklahoma City-based Sonic Corp. to open 20 restaurants in the Milwaukee area during a 7 year time period. The other locations for Sonic restaurants in the Milwaukee area have yet to be determined.
Menomonee Falls
Su Casa Mexican Grill & Sports Bar plans to move from Falls Plaza at N81 W15094 Appleton Ave., to a vacant former Ponderosa restaurant building at N84 W15842 Appleton Ave. Su Casa plans to add outdoor seating for 132 to the former Ponderosa, which has indoor seating for about 155 patrons. The new restaurant will be about double the size of the Falls Plaza location.
West Allis
Frank Lai, the owner of Fortune Chinese Restaurant at 2945 S. 108th St., plans to build a 913-square-foot addition to the building.
Debra Hamilton-Barutha plans to open a dance studio, for dance and aerobics classes, in a 1,380-square-foot space at 7701 W. Greenfield Ave. in downtown West Allis.
