INDIANAPOLIS — City leaders are moving ahead with plans to redevelop the old Marion County Jail II building.
The Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee of the Indianapolis City-County Council approved plans to create a TIF district that encompasses the lad that the old jail sits on. A TIF bond allows the city to take out debt to finance the project and use the increased projected taxes on the space to pay it back.
“The whole reason why you can get behind a TIF financing program is because you’re not losing anything that you are getting currently and anything you would get in the future you wouldn’t get without that development there,” said Councilor Zach Adamson (D) on WISH-TV.
In all the redevelopment project with is mostly backed by the developer 1820 Ventures. In all the plan is to retool the building to include lofts, retail, a concert venue, and other amenities. The price tag is $121 million with $15 million planned to be covered by the TIF bond.
“For this development you wouldn’t be getting the taxes in the first place,” said Adamson. “So it is only consuming what it is creating and that is only for a period of time. And so after a period of time after that debt service is paid off all of that revenue comes back into the city.”
City leaders said that extra living space is needed since they say up to 96-percent of available housing in downtown Indy is now occupied. The redevelopment project is expected to be done by 2025.
