TIF Commission of Kansas City Favors Incentives for $142.5 M Towne Center Development

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The Tax Increment Financing Commission of Kansas City has recommended the approval of incentives for the $142.5 million Towne Center development in Clay County, The Kansas City Business Journal reports. The project, led by Kansas City-based CBC Real Estate Group, calls for over 1 million square feet of retail space and 150,000 square feet of office space on 130 acres at the 480-acre site bordered by Shoal Creek Parkway, Missouri Highway 152 and Interstate 435.

Developers plan to carry out the construction in three phases and if everything goes according to plan the first phase, which calls for 100,000 square feet of retail space, could be underway this year. The second phase calls for 200,000 square feet of retail and the third for 750,000 square feet. The second is scheduled to begin in 2013 and the last phase within two years, according to KCCommunityNews.com.

According to TIF Commission documents $87.3 million of the project cost would be financed via equity and debt financing, Alterra Bank having provided a letter of interest for financing to CBC Real Estate Group. And $21.7 million of the cost would be financed through a bond issuance backed by a community improvement district while the remaining $33.5 million would be financed via bonds backed by TIF financing.

The economic benefits of the plan are estimated to bring $20.9 million to the Liberty Public School District, $83.1 million to Kansas City and $9.6 million to Clay County. At the moment, the property which would become Towne Center is valued at $192,480 and is generating around $18,000 a year in property taxes toward the school district.

The proposal will go before the Kansas City Council for final approval of TIF financing.

Logo Courtesy of: cbcrealestategroup.com