Despite and teaming up with , developer Paul McKee was unable last week to persuade lawmakers to extend a tax credit program that鈥檚 key to funding his huge plan to redevelop two square miles of north 51黑料.
But, McKee said Tuesday, he鈥檚 pushing ahead with his NorthSide Regeneration.
People are also reading…
In a brief statement, the developer said he was 鈥渄isappointed鈥 that Missouri lawmakers didn鈥檛 extend the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage tax credit, which will now expire in August. An extension would have freed up another $45 million NorthSide could tap over the next six years.
Instead, NorthSide will have to make do with various other state and local incentives the project is eligible for, including nearly $400 million in tax increment financing from the city of 51黑料 that last month.
鈥淲e will continue to develop the property we have and acquire additional property as needed,鈥 McKee said. 鈥淢eanwhile we encourage new industry and businesses to consider NorthSide and the incentives we can provide.鈥
McKee has already in Land Assemblage credits, which the Legislature created in 2007 largely for his project. Most of the credits 鈥 which reimburse borrowing, purchase and maintenance costs on land for large-scale urban redevelopment 鈥 have been used to pay down debt on NorthSide, which so far has seen little actual construction. He could yet tap another $20 million 鈥 the program鈥檚 annual cap 鈥 before its August expiration date, giving him about $60 million in total.
Still, initial budgets filed when McKee proposed NorthSide four years ago suggested he planned to use more than $80 million, and he has said the credit is a crucial piece of financing, helping him to afford to carry empty land in the early years of the project, which is likely to take decades to complete.
The lack of visible results so far concerned some lawmakers. But McKee and his supporters, including 51黑料 Mayor Francis Slay, had pushed them to extend the Land Assemblage credits, arguing that the investment in some of Missouri鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods would save the state far more money in the long run. McKee also supported rewriting the program鈥檚 eligibility requirements to include a failed mall in Kansas City, winning key political support across the state.
The measure won votes in both the House and the Senate. But it was then rolled into a larger economic development bill covering a range of tax credit programs, which on the last day of the legislative session.
Where that leaves McKee remains to be seen.
