On March 2, the Carmel City Council unanimously approved the $100-million-plus private redevelopment of the Midtown section of Carmel.
It was announced at the meeting that tax increment financing – a mechanism to capture increases in property taxes to pay for infrastructure – would likely be used to pay for a parking garage, but no specific total has been given.
Justin Moffett’s Old Town Design Group announced its plan to transform this portion of Carmel between the Carmel Arts & Design District to the north and the Carmel City Center to the south, Range Line Road to the east and the Monon Trail to the West.
City Councilor Eric Seidensticker said much of the debate in the Land Use, Annexation and Economic Development Committee focused on whether public money would be used. Just recently, the Council approved using TIF to repay municipally backed bonds to construct a parking garage for Carmel City Center phase two. It passed 4-3 with those voting against saying that using a “special benefits tax” guarantee the debt was a concern.
For the Midtown project, there was some talk about how much TIF could be needed and whether there would be a split in TIF revenue, with part of it going to the Carmel Redevelopment Commission to pay off other debt, such as The Center for the Performing Arts, and part of it going to pay off the Midtown parking garage. The split could be 50-50 or it could be 75-25, Seidensticker said.
City Council President Rick Sharp said that he thinks some split is needed.
“I think it’s critical that we capture TIF from every development so we lessen the risk of a tax being levied,” he said.
Seidensticker said it was asked if the Midtown project could be done without using any TIF. He said the developer said it’s possible but that it couldn’t be done to the full and complete designs and that the Land Use committee understood that.
Although the Midtown planned unit development was passed, there are still likely other issues that will come through the Carmel Plan Commission and the City Council as construction begins. And any TIF money will have to be approved when that’s ready.
