South DaCola

UPDATED: TIF #18. Like clockwork another planned TIF handout to a wealthy SF developer

l3wis

“I will get Batman someday, I will, but first I need a TIF.”

Notice on the agenda there is no way to FF to item’s 16 and 17. There is also NO attached PDF or PP documents with the items.

Hmmmm.

So I will sum up the TIF for you (FF:43:40) Mega-rich SF Developer Craig Lloyd is asking for a(nother) TIF, because, gosh-golly-gee, nobody wants to invest in developing DT because it is too expensive and risky. (Yeah, landing a Hilton hotel DT must have been a money losing endeavor).

I will have to give props to the city, they sure put on a real Broadway musical of epic proportions telling us how this is needed (TIF #18 – Phillips to the Falls area). Of course they brought up the same old song and dance; environmental cleanup, drainage, etc. But isn’t this an expense every developer has to incur when they develop land? Is it out of the ordinary? Just wondering?

I will give Planning Commission chair Ken Dunlap credit for asking great questions about TIF’s and how they take away from the tax rolls to subsidize a project. Ken gets the bumbling-mumbling community development employee ‘Brent’ to admit that the expense numbers presented are an ‘estimate’ and not ‘actual’ costs. So now we are basing TIF’s on ‘estimates’? Isn’t that special.

Ken also gets the city to admit that the project ‘cannot’ move forward without the TIF. Remember when we last heard this song and dance? COSTCO. Well, how did that turnout? The project WAS going to happen without the TIF, but our complacent and self-serving city council voted for it anyway.

Back to the meeting . . . Jeff Schmidt couldn’t take the line of questioning anymore from Dunlap so he shoves Bumbling Brent aside in an attempt to stop the line of questioning. Well, didn’t stop Brent, he returns to the podium to make the BS statement that it would be far cheaper and less of a risk to build these ‘loft apartments’ on the edge of town.

Really? I consistently hear from people that they want to live DT but there is not enough rentals available. These apartments will fill up FAST! To make this crazy statement that we need to subsidize an apartment building because no one will build it unless the city bails them out is a flat out lie! Lloyd has rental property all over this city. If he didn’t make money from these properties he wouldn’t continue to build them, and these apartments are no different. He would build them with or without the TIF. Why doesn’t someone just get Lloyd to admit that?

“Craig, what if the TIF is not awarded, will you still develop?”

Of course it doesn’t stop Lloyd from coming forward and defending the city’s ‘estimates’ on costs. He first starts out by talking about the recession a few years ago (yeah, I’m sure you have been really hurting – where can I send the box of tissues?) Lloyd then starts talking about all the costs involved with developing DT. Yeah? So what? Every project has a ‘cost’. He then confesses that he couldn’t build the project without the TIF. He says that this project has become a ‘love affair’ and not a money making endeavor. Yeah, right. Like Mr. Lloyd is doing this project out of the goodness of his heart, like every project he has done in this city. Because making millions over the years was something he has done for the good people of Sioux Falls. I can accept that. What I can’t accept is when he starts to take away tax dollars for education to help fund his ‘projects’ because you know, he is helping us out.

So I am wondering how much Lloyd paid the city to put this cheerleader session on for him. It seems now private developers even have community development working for them.

UPDATE:

I have a few more things to add to this post after closer review. The Planning Commission weren’t actually given the plan for the district until the day prior to the meeting.  This is really an administrative issue coming out of Community Development.  Are they having trouble managing their workload?  In fact, there are still TIF’s out there, going back to TIF 13 that do not have development agreements in place yet.
I know I can be a little tough on Lloyd, but honestly I’m guessing a lot of development DT would not happen without him, even if we are subsidizing his projects (which I do not agree with). This particular TIF may be justified because unfortunately much of what remains for developable land in Uptown is contaminated and to the point that there will be restrictions placed on what is allowed for development.  Without the TIF for Craig he wouldn’t be able to get the financial institutions to back his development loans.  This is where the problem really lies in terms of developing downtown.  It is more expensive both in the beginning and end to develop and own property – even if there is a demand for the end product.  The financial institutions know that there are issues and increase financing percentages to ensure their butts are covered.  Because of those increases it is tough, without TIF, to find investors that will provide enough capital to make these projects happen.  But every situation is different.
The biggest problem is that Community Development isn’t doing their job in making sure that the developer remains in check and information is being provided to all approving authorities prior to asking them for recommendations.  What will happen if the City can’t get their act together and get the development agreements for these things done?  That means by the time that revenues start flowing in, they won’t be able to be paid back out because the legal documentation allowing them to do so isn’t in place.  That is messy and will cause many more issues in years to come.
Maybe a moratorium should be placed on issuing TIF’s until the Council addresses the topic. That is, if the council even knows what the heck is going on over in the Community Development office.
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