Tax-increment financing could raise curtain on vacant Esquire Theater

The curtain could be raised at the long-vacant Esquire Theater through tax-increment-financed redevelopment, Cape Girardeau city and civic leaders said.

The city council will vote Monday on a resolution to reconvene the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission and seek proposals for redevelopment of the historic structure at 824 Broadway.

Proposed council action comes after developer Cara Naeger proposed renovating the building as a concert venue for local and touring bands.

Naeger, Old Town Cape executive director Marla Mills and Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO John Mehner discussed the proposed project during a council study session in February.

Mehner said at the time financial incentives would be key to implementing the project. But tax-increment financing was not specifically mentioned at that time. Mills said the developer was looking at obtaining historic tax credits to help with the project.

Mehner said Friday state law requires the city to request redevelopment proposals before approving any tax-increment financing project.

Proposals would be due to the city by May 21, city officials said. The TIF Commission would consider a TIF redevelopment plan for the property and hold a public hearing,

The final decision on whether to approve tax-increment financing for the property rests with the council, Mehner said.

The 8,860-square-foot building was constructed in 1947. It operated as a movie theater for more than four decades before it closed in 1985, said Alex McElroy, the city�s development services director.

�Since then, the building has seen a few tenants come and go but has mostly been vacant and continues to deteriorate,� McElroy wrote in an agenda report to the council.

McElroy said city staff believe TIF offers the �best tool� to spur redevelopment of the building.

The vacant Esquire Theater on Broadway is seen Feb. 20 in Cape Girardeau.Ben Matthews

Soliciting redevelopment proposals will allow the city to �better identify the benefits of TIF for this particular property and determine whether or not to proceed with the formation of a TIF redevelopment area,� McElroy said.

Implementing a TIF requires convening the city�s TIF Commission, submission of a redevelopment plan, a public hearing on the plan and council adoption of ordinances.

McElroy wrote the building is �vacant, deteriorated and not generating meaningful revenue to the city or other taxing entities.�

He said redevelopment �will protect the existing tax, lead to an increase of the sales tax base ... and, in the long term, will increase the property tax base for all taxing entities.�

While Naeger, the developer, has discussed renovating the former movie theater, there has been no formal proposal, Mehner said.

�This is a hard deal,� the chamber president said. �This building is in bad shape.�

The vacant Esquire Theater on Broadway is seen Feb. 20 in Cape Girardeau.Ben Matthews

Mehner added the building has been vacant for 33 years.

With TIF, McElroy said, a developer can receive the increment gained in property taxes between the current value and the improved value and use that revenue to fund development costs such as acquisition, rehabilitation, infrastructure and parking.

City officials said each proposal must demonstrate the project is not feasible without such financing.

A developer, under state law, may receive TIF benefits for up to 23 years. They include the increased property tax revenue as well as 50 percent of the increased sales taxes generated from that business, according to Mehner.

But the city and developer could settle on different financial terms that would be spelled out in a written agreement, Mehner said.

According to a request-for-proposals document on the city�s website, the city�s goals, in addition to generating increased tax revenue, are to redevelop the property and enhance the image of the city.

Naeger told the council earlier this year her company has �a passion for restoration.� Naeger called the building �a unique space.�

The vacant theater, featuring an art-deco facade, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It has been on the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission�s list of endangered buildings since 2012.

Mills, the Old Town Cape director, and Southeast Missouri State University history professor Steven Hoffman have long wanted to save the building.

Hoffman said the theater in its heyday was part of Cape Girardeau�s entertainment district. It has �an authentic, unique character,� he said.

Mills told the council in February that �should we lose it, we lose a connection to our past.�

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

824 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.