AgdaPkt 2003-01-08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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For over five years, the City Council has placed a high priority on the revitalization of the downtown area. A great deal of time and resources have been invested in this goal. In addition to the installation of major streetscape improvements along Broadway, the City also has developed a Downtown Area Plan, prepared by a 15- member citizen's committee, which is currently undergoing final review. A major component to the success of the downtown revitalization effort is the retail- cinema project which will be located in the heart of the downtown core. This project is expected to attract other retailers and restaurants to the downtown and, in anticipation of a bustling downtown, the City plans to construct an underground public parking garage as part of the project to accommodate future downtown patrons. On December 9, 2002, the City Council and the Redevelopment Agency Executive Board approved an amended (original dated January 29, 2001) disposition and development agreement (DDA) with BHV Innisfree Ventures I, LLC forthe construction and development of a retail /cinema project on a site which is bounded by Middlefield, Jefferson, and Broadway. Under the terms of the DDA, the Agency will be required to finance an underground public parking garage, which is estimated to cost $20 million. The Agency is now at a point to proceed with this project and initiate the efforts needed to acquire privately owned land and begin the design and construction of the public parking garage. Should the state take any actions that will reduce the amount of financial resources available to the Agency, or impose any limitations on the Agency's ability to borrow funds for this project, the Agency might have to abandon the project. Staff recommends that the Agency be loaned $20 million from various City sources. These funds will be repaid, with interest, when the Agency issues bonds supported by the Agency's property tax increment revenue. Staff expects that the Agency will issue these bonds within the next 12 months. The recommended sources of the loan to the Agency are as follows: Traffic Impact Fee Fund $6 million Capital Projects Fund $14 million Total Loan to Agency $20 million Staff is also recommending that the City and the Agency also enter into a long -term agreement under which the City will provide administrative services to the Agency. Inasmuch as most Agency staff members also function as employees of the City and are paid by the City and the Agency, it is recommended that these employees (along with other support services such as Risk Management, Building Maintenance, and Information Technology et al) be officially transferred to the City and then their services provided to the