More than a year and a half after a tax increment financing district was established for the Brody Corners development in west Springfield, the City Council unanimously approved a community improvement district.
The community improvement district (CID) can establish a 1-percent tax on retail sales made within the district boundaries to reimburse infrastructure costs and other improvements for an area that was previously deemed blighted.
The City Council approved the establishment of Springfield’s 19th CID by an 8-0 vote at its Oct. 16 meeting, setting up a means to accelerate financial reimbursement for road and utility improvements at Brody Corners.
What is Brody Corners?
Located at the northwest corner of the James River Freeway and Sunshine Street interchange, Brody Corners is a planned retail, restaurant and office development. Previously the home of a mobile home park in unincorporated Greene County, the 28 acres bordering the Republic city limits have since been annexed into Springfield.
The Brody Corners property has a newly opened Kum & Go gas station, located at 5505 W. Sunshine St., as well as new sidewalks and roadway.
While the land was a mobile home park, under the ownership of RLB Properties, its wastewater treatment system — or lack thereof — was found to be in violation of the Missouri Clean Water Law, according to previous reporting. The property was subject to a blight study in 2021.
After foreclosure, the land was purchased by West Sunshine Development, LLC, the developers behind Brody Corners. The LLC is registered to Mike Seitz of Triple S Properties, who will be an initial board member of the Brody Corners CID board of directors, according to city council documents.
CID to supplement TIF in reimbursing project costs
The establishment of a tax increment financing district (TIF) underwent several delays in late 2021 and early 2022 as continued concerns about the state of the property were raised and the notice of a public hearing with the TIF Commission was brought into question, but was ultimately unanimously approved in March 2022.
A TIF redirects incremental increases in existing taxes, with the exception of personal property taxes, to be used for project-related costs on blighted property. A CID is a political subdivision of the state and a special taxing district. Brody Corners is Springfield's fifth TIF district.
In 2022, the developer asked for $3.4 million through the TIF dedevelopment agreement to help pay for the costs associated with the previously-estimated $27 million project — including connecting the development to public utilities, sewer and stormwater infrastructure construction, excavation, street improvements and “allowable project fees.”
The agreement allowed the development to capture 75 percent of new real property taxes and and 50 percent of new sales taxes collected on the 28 acres. With reimbursement costs now estimated at $6.6 million, the additional 1-percent sales tax allowed under the CID could expedite reimbursement.
“The redevelopment agreement requires the developer pursue the establishment of a Community Improvement District to supplement funding and help accelerate the reimbursement of the public improvements related to the project,” Amanda Ohlensehlen, the Springfield Director of Economic Vitality, said at the Oct. 2 City Council meeting.
Half of the CID’s revenues will be paid into to the TIF’s special allocation fund, 1.5-percent will be paid to the city quarterly as an administrative fee and the CID will retain the remainder for continued public improvements and operating expenses of the district. The CID has a maximum lifespan of 27 years, or until all reimbursable costs are paid.
The 1-percent sales tax — which, if applicable, is subject to a vote in the CID boundaries — is estimated to bring in just north of $24,000 in its first year, and $97,000 in its fifth year. In addition to the added CID tax, the TIF proposal estimated the development would generate $8.07 million in tax revenues over the course of 23 years.
No members of the public spoke at the public hearing Oct. 2 for the petitioned CID, and council members had little to say about this component of the development.
