The City has authorized a service agreement with Al Neyer, Inc. (Neyer) and Columbia Square, LLC for the Columbia Square development at Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue.

The service agreement sets the terms for the issuance of bonds for each of the project's three phases.

As reported yesterday, the City authorized the issuance of $4.3 million in bonds to help pay for the parking, site improvements and utilities.*

Debt on the bonds will be serviced by tax revenues generated in an already established Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.

City Council approved the use of TIF for the site in 2003 and codified it by entering into a development agreement with Neyer in June.

The City also has replaced $500,000 taken from the Columbia Square capital project account, which will fill a financing gap and allow Neyer to proceed with their construction loan from National City Bank.

In 2005, the City transferred those funds from that account to cover costs for the Stetson Square project. They recently found a source for reimbursement in three other project funds (figures rounded):

* Retail/Commercial Opportunities 2007: $165,000
* Downtown Housing Development 2007: $95,000
* Neighborhood Housing/Commercial Development 2007: $240,000

Later this month, the City will use these funds--in conjunction with the unspent $150,000 in the project account--to purchase land from Neyer for construction of public surface parking.


The three-phased project

Phase I will consist of the construction of a 49,000-square-foot office building and public parking on the southeast corner of Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue.

Phase II will be 29,000-square-feet in neighborhood retail buildings on the south side of Columbia at Hoge Street. These possibly could include restaurants and a bank.

Phase III will be a 34,000-square-foot office building on the northwest corner of Columbia and Delta.

Residential uses, which at one time were numbered as high as 72, are absent from current plans.

The project cost is estimated at $23 million.

The city has already spent nearly $850,000 for the local share of the $1.6 million Columbia Parkway streetscape project, which was necessary to make the project feasible.

The streetscape was dedicated June 21.