Cape terminates Esquire Theatre TIF; council approves TIF agreement with Morning Star

Development on one of Cape Girardeau's historic theaters may soon be underway.

On Monday, Cape Girardeau City Council members voted to terminate tax increment financing (TIF) for a redevelopment area designated for improvements to the former Esquire Theater building, 824 Broadway.

The Council held its first meeting Monday in the City of Cape Girardeau's new City Hall.

According to deputy city manager Molly Mehner, terminating the TIF for the former Esquire Theater building will make way for a new potential TIF agreement with another developer.

Tenmile Companies, a group of architects, developers and real estate investors, has applied for TIF to redevelop the building.

The building was constructed in 1947 and operated as a movie theater from 1947 to 1985.

A handful of churches and businesses occasionally rented the building after 1985, but the building has, for the most part, sat vacant for the past 30 years.

Mehner said Tenmile intends to develop the former theater into professional office suites.

Tenmile founder Ben Traxel said the company has not closed on the building since the building's owner, Phil Brinson, recently died. Brinson died Dec. 19 at age 54.

Traxel said Tenmile Companies hopes to move forward with the project, but Brinson's death left the project in limbo.

"Our plan was to have it all closed and owned by now, but right at the very last minute before we were going to close, like the week before, he passed away," Traxel said. "So we're kind of stuck at the moment."

Creating a new agreement will allow Tenmile to have the full 23 years allotted for TIF under Missouri State Statutes instead of taking over the previous developer's agreement that began a few years ago.

The previous developer, TAG Development LLC, entered a redevelopment agreement with the City of Cape Girardeau in 2018 to renovate the deteriorating building.

TAG proposed to redevelop the building into an event space for community events, concerts and more.

TAG's agreement expired Dec. 31, 2019, according to previous Southeast Missourian reporting. At the time, a representative of TAG Development said the project required too much capital outlay, even with the support of TIF.

Under TIF, property taxes are frozen within approved TIF districts for up to 23 years. The property owners make payments in lieu of taxes, commonly called PILOTS, to a special allocation fund a developer can use for eligible project costs.

Mehner said TIF is usually allowed with projects in blighted or soon-to-be blighted buildings.

The first TIF project in Cape Girardeau encompassed the Marquette Tower and Marriot Hotel downtown.

"Those are shining examples of how TIF has worked successfully in downtown Cape," Mehner said.

Morning Star Behavioral Associates owner and CEO Lindsey Radcliffe said the health clinic's new office at 1 S. Main St. should be open in late summer.Southeast Missourian file

Morning Star Behavioral to move

The TIF for Esquire Theater was not the only TIF-related item council members voted on Monday night.

The council unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement with Morning Star Behavioral Associates in connection to the city's Redevelopment Plan for the Downtown Tax Increment Financing District.

Council approved the plan in 2016. It designated five redevelopment project areas within the city's downtown area adjacent to the riverfront.

With TIF, Morning Star Behavioral Associates will renovate 1 S. Main St. The 7,000-square-foot space will add close to 2,500 extra square feet to operate out of, according to Linsdey Radcliffe.

Radcliffe serves as majority partner and CEO of Morning Star. The mental health clinic provides services to people with developmental disabilities through behavioral analysis.

Radcliffe said the council's approval to use TIF for Morning Star's new location showed Cape Girardeau was an inclusive community.

"I'm just honored to be a part of this community," Radcliffe said after Monday's council meeting. "These are wins we don't take for granted."

Radcliffe said she hoped Morning Star would open for business at 1 S. Main St. by late summer.

Morning Star currently operates in the Marquette Tower building in downtown Cape Girardeau. It has another location in Kirkwood, Missouri, and recently launched a hybrid location in New Madrid, Missouri, dedicated to telehealth.

Urban deer hunt

City of Cape Girardeau finance director Dustin Ziebold updated the council on the city's urban deer management program.

Ziebold said the deer hunt held Nov. 1 to Dec. 5 resulted in the harvest of four male deer and 9 female deer.

The effect of the urban hunt will amplify over the next few years, according to Ziebold. By 2026, he estimated the hunt will have the effect of eliminating close to 60 deer.

Ziebold said a first reading for an ordinance to approve another deer hunt will be held during the council's next meeting.