Redevelopment commission takes ownership of former library

The Jasper Redevelopment Commission took ownership of the former Jasper Library property at Tuesday’s meeting.

This is the first step in the city’s goal of having that property developed privately. According to City Attorney Renee Kabrick, transferring ownership from the city to the redevelopment commission allows for more control in choosing a development plan that fits the city’s goals and vision for the area.

Whereas the city would be required to choose from among the proposals it received based on the guidelines in its request for proposals, the redevelopment commission has more leeway in the process. If the proposals received are unacceptable for the development of that property, the commission can reject them and then, after 30 days, seek a development that would be more aligned with the city’s vision for the area.

The city would like to see multiple developers come in with ideas so we can take a step back and see what could potentially happen in that area, Kabrick said.

The commission also approved seeking two appraisals for the former library property to begin the process of developing a package to seek development proposals.

The commission discussed extending the central area tax increment finance (TIF) district to encompass the library property. This may need to occur depending on the type of development that occurs there. If it becomes a single-family residential development, it wouldn’t make sense to encompass it in the tax increment finance district because it wouldn’t allow the city to capture the incremental property tax increases in the area. Commercial developments would be viewed differently.

On a somewhat separate but connected note, the commission also discussed extending the central area TIF north from the courthouse square to encompass Main Street up to Ninth Street. As the city moves forward with plans to redevelop the downtown area, the addition of this corridor would allow for more options in funding those developments.

The commission also discussed the creation of a tax increment finance district in the University Heights area to support a mix-use development that would include housing potentially being planned to begin in 2022. Kabrick told the commission, they would see recommendations for that area and the creation of a new TIF district by the March meeting.