Columbus Council approves $14M to help fund new parking garage at riverfront development
Real estate developer W.C. Bradley Co. plans to use increased Tax Allocation District money for a parking garage and other projects near its riverfront apartment complex.
Columbus Council unanimously approved a modification request Tuesday for additional TAD funds to support the construction of a shared underground parking facility and “certain public infrastructure improvements,” according to the agenda item, for Riverfront Place, a 7.5-acre, mixed-use development by the Bradley Company.
The development site along Front Avenue near 14th Street contains apartment complex The Rapids, a Trevioli restaurant, a park and the newly constructed Hotel Indigo.
Last March, the council approved $38 million in TAD funding for the project. On Tuesday, the council approved an additional $14 million.
“(The Bradley Company) is doing great work, phenomenal work,” City Manager Isaiah Hugley said during the meeting. “And it is going to have phenomenal impact, not on just Uptown, but all of Columbus, Georgia.”
TADs are economic development tools used to attract development. In a TAD, the amount of property taxes that go to the local government is frozen on all real estate in its boundaries. Bonds are issued to redevelop the area. As property values rise, so does the property tax revenue. Any revenue collected over the frozen amount goes toward retiring the bond debt and possible infrastructure improvements.
The Bradley Company requested the increased funding because of ”an expansion in the size of the mixed-use development and rapidly escalating construction costs during the next 18 months,” according to the agenda item.
“We appreciate the support,” W.C. Bradley Real Estate President and COO Pace Halter told councilors during the meeting. “We love what we do in the community. Knowing that we have the mayor and the council and the staff behind us is very important.”
Halter didn’t respond to questions before publication.
This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
