Arts Commission and Library Board decide to seek input from private developers

Anyone interested in working with the Jasper Community Arts Commission and the Jasper Library as the private developer on the Hoosier Desk project?

After two hours of deliberation, the two boards came to an agreement to give other developers an opportunity to turn in proposals as the private developer on the proposed Jasper Culture Center.

City Properties Group, a Louisville-based developer and property management firm, was included on the application for over $3.4 million in Industrial Recovery Tax Credits from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). The IEDC could not award the tax credits for the project without a private developer being included on the application and the firm agreed to partner with the two groups as the only taxable entity at the table.

The application for Industrial Recovery Tax Credits for the project included plans for the joint project with an estimated cost of $13.841 million. The cost does not include soft costs like the architectural and design plans for the project. Hard numbers on the actual cost of the project will be confirmed through future planning that will be completed prior to the referendum in November.

In December, the IEDC awarded $3.42 million in tax credits to City Properties Group, a parent company to CityVisions the firm that led the development of the Downtown + Riverfront Master Plan. The tax credits can be sold to a bank or company needing to offset tax debt. The income from the sale can then be used to fund the project.

But, those tax credits can be transferred to another developer as long as the proposed usage of the cultural center doesn’t change.

Based on this, the arts commission and library board of trustees agreed to give a special subcommittee comprised of members from each group the responsibility to seek out proposals from interested developers. The committee members include Jasper’s Director of Community Development and arts commission member Darla Blazey, arts commission member Kyle Rupert, Jasper Arts director Kit Miracle, Jasper Library board member Dean Vonderheide, library board member Mark Kunkel and library director Christine Golden.

Arts Commission member Beth Seidl was the lone dissenting vote among the two groups. She stated during the meeting that since CityVisions had been working with the city on several planning projects and had demonstrated an interest in Jasper, they should be allowed to move forward as a culture center partner.

“If we get proposals from interested developers, who is qualified to evaluate those proposals,” she asked the members of the two entities.

Kabrick pointed out that the goal was to find a private developer to sit at the table as a partner in the project, not a service provider. She expounded on City Properties Group assistance in the project obtaining the tax credits.

But, as board member Kunkel later explained, City Properties Group did have some fees associated with their services in the referendum process.

Mayor Terry Seitz, who was in attendance at the meeting, addressed the commission and board about the qualifications and interest CityVisions has for the project and the city. “We literally are here today because of the city, the greater community and, frankly, because of CityVisions in identifying those properties.” he said referring to CityVision’s work on the downtown plan that was added to the city’s comprehensive plan.

The developer the two entities agree to partner with will have the responsibility to create housing and develop any retail or restaurant spaces in the proposed site. According to Jasper Arts Commission president Mike Jones, the project will not receive the tax credits without the developer at the table in the process.

“The tax credits are predicated on those three components; library, arts and a private developer,” Jones said. “We need all three to get $3 million in tax credits.”

Kunkel inquired about what will happen if the developer completes feasibility studies, as City Properties has indicated they will complete, and the housing portion is determined to not be feasible. Attorney Kabrick told him that they had discussed the creation of a separate private entity to transfer those credits to if the developer pulled from the project. Since the credits were transferable, it shouldn’t be an issue, she said.

Kunkel, who was joined by other library board members, voiced his concern about being chained to City Properties Group for the future architectural and engineering services. This, in addition to the library board’s desire to remain transparent in all of their decisions, pushed them to move forward with seeking input from other developers.

An advertisement seeking the proposals will likely be placed in papers in Indianapolis, Louisville and Evansville as well as locally by the end of the week. Proposals will be due from interested developers by February 1 with a final decision expected to occur in March.

The timeline on the current steps is being pushed by the need to have some hard costs on the project to put into the referendum in November. That referendum will decide whether taxpayers will fund the bond needed to build the library on the Hoosier Desk site.

If the referendum fails to pass, nothing will happen; the library will remain on Main Street at its current location in its current state.

If it fails to pass, nothing will happen; the library will remain on Main Street at its current location in its current state. The only options on the table at this point is for the new library at the Hoosier Desk site to be funded or not funded. Officials wanted to make it clear that the loss of the referendum does not mean a new library will be constructed at the current location.