Downtown Valparaiso's Linc development is getting its own TIF district. The $37 million project will include three four-story apartment buildings with ground floor retail space facing Lincolnway.
The city is helping to pay for the project through tax increment financing. That means any new property tax revenues generated by the project will be earmarked specifically for that area. That could be used for project bond payments.
On Tuesday, the Valparaiso Plan Commission signed off on the creation of a new allocation area consisting of the former Round the Clock site and the surrounding parking lots. City Attorney Patrick Lyp said it's actually already in a TIF district, but the city likes to give projects their own separate ones.
"We want to make sure that as TIF revenue is generated — and some of that is going back to the project, the developers, for the bonds — it's very clear and delineated what they're entitled to, based upon the assessed valuation of their project," Lyp told the plan commission.
The move will also require the approval of the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission. As for the project itself, Lyp said the developer has to request some variances from the city's board of zoning appeals.
