Board Hears Crestwood Point TDD Amendment

2007-04-20
Board Hears Crestwood Point Amendment by Eileen P. Duggan

The Crestwood Board of Aldermen on April 10 gave preliminary approval to an agreement that brings the city a step closer to having its Government Center parking lot renovated.

The board held the first reading of an amendment to the Crestwood Point Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement that governs funding for the Kohl's Department Store development and the city parking lot project.

"We're trying to get this thing cleaned up so everything is legal," said Mayor Roy Robinson. "We're trying to be fair but frugal for the citizens of Crestwood."

The amendment reduces the amount the tax-funded Crestwood Point Transportation Development District (TDD) and Community Improvement District (CID) boards will repay the developer for acquisition of the parking lot property and authorizes the boards to issue notes or bonds to finance the project.

Essentially, sales tax collected from the Kohl's store will pay for the parking lot acquisition and the renovation work, under a complex financing agreement that helped build the store at Watson and Sappington roads.

In addition to the store, the project includes traffic improvements to the Watson/Sappington intersection and to the Glenwood/Watson intersection; construction of a cross-access road between Kohl's and the neighboring Watson Plaza; and purchase of property for the city parking lot from Crestwood Swim Club and a $631,700 renovation of the lot.

Those projects are funded by a Transportation Development District, and all have been completed except for the parking lot renovation. The TDD collects a special 1 percent tax on all purchases within the Kohl's district in order to pay for the projects.

A related Community Improvement District includes construction of water lines, sanitary and storm sewers, curbs, gutters and sidewalks serving Kohl's. The CID has imposed a real estate tax of $3 per $100 assessed valuation on the property, and those taxes fund the infrastructure projects.

The Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement allows the TDD and CID boards to issue notes, bonds or other obligations to pay these expenses to the developer, THF Crestwood Point Development. The amended agreement would reduce the amount to be reimbursed to the developer for the parking lot purchase from the original $800,000 to about $295,000 based on a recent appraisal. The exact amount will be negotiated by the next board of aldermen meeting, Robinson said.

Once the financing is completed, the city could make improvements to the parking lot this summer, Robinson said.

The TDD and CID boards are each made up of two representatives from THF Development and three representatives from the city. The current city members are Robinson, City Administrator Frank Myers and Board of Aldermen President Jerry Miguel.

The intergovernmental agreement was first established in November 2003, following a redevelopment agreement with THF in November 2002. Kohl's itself, which opened in October 2003, was built through tax increment financing, also funded by sales tax revenues and governed by a similarly composed board.