Cape to vote on TIF request for Marquette Tech project

Developers of the Marquette Tech downtown redevelopment project have asked for a maximum of $2.49 million in tax-increment financing (TIF) spread over 23 years to help fund their $20 million project.

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote Monday night on measures to approve the project and a related redevelopment pact.

Deputy city manager Molly Hood said the request was developed based on tax calculations provided by the Cape Girardeau County assessor’s office.

Under the proposal, the development group led by Jeffrey Maurer of Mayson Capital Partners would receive 90 percent of the increased property taxes and 50 percent of the economic-growth-in-activity taxes, which includes sales taxes.

The tax revenue would be returned to the developers to help pay for the project, Hood said.

The development group announced last week it planned to renovate the former Marquette Hotel into a high-tech hub for startup technology companies and turn the H-H Building and the adjacent Marquette Center into a Marriott “Courtyard” Hotel.

Under the proposed agreement, 10 percent of the increase in property-tax revenue from the development would be placed in a city-managed fund and could be used for other programs and projects, she said.

If there is a surplus at the end of the year, the money could be refunded to the various taxing entities.

“We will sit down annually with the various taxing entities,” Hood said.

Monday’s expected

council action will finalize a TIF district that initially was authorized in January, when no development had surfaced yet publicly.

The district is bounded by Bellevue and Themis streets on the north and south, Lorimier Street on the east and west of the H-H Building on the west.

Once the council gives final approval to the TIF district, the clock starts ticking on possible tax-increment financing for other projects in that geographical area, Hood said.

Any developer wishing to propose a TIF project in that neighborhood would have to make such a request within the next 10 years, she said.

“It is a real exciting project,” Hood said.

The agreement, however, includes some provisions to protect the city and terminate the agreement if the project fizzles, she said.

“If they lose the hotel and can’t get a replacement, then we could terminate the agreement,” Hood said.

For the council to approve a TIF project, developers must convince city officials the project could not be completed without tax-increment financing, Hood said.

Maurer said publicly last week the project would not be viable without such financing and historic-preservation tax credits.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.