EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Two pieces of taxpayer financial assistance were approved Monday for a $28.4 million housing and commercial project in the impoverished Jacobsville neighborhood.
House Investments of Indianapolis is to receive $1.5 million from economic development bonds, as well as a 10-year phase-in on property taxes. Each measure was passed by the Evansville City Council in 7-0 votes.
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The construction site is at North Main and Illinois streets, which since the 1980s had an IGA grocery store. The store closed in January 2018.
Evansville government officials have since aggressively recruited a new food outlet, as well as new housing opportunities in Jacobsville.
The four-building project planned by House Investments has 15,000 square feet of commercial space and 180 apartments. The studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are to have rents ranging from $530 to $1,200 per month.
Officials described the apartments as “workforce” housing. Occupants’ annual incomes are to be from $28,000 to $57,000. One of the buildings will have four stories and an elevator. The other three buildings are three stories with no elevators.
House Investments officials said their goal is to bring a grocery store to the commercial space as soon as possible, once the development is completed. The old store building is to be razed.
Construction is expected to start in spring 2020 and take 12-18 months to complete.
The Vectren Foundation is a $750,000 investor. The development company received tax credits because of the project’s location in a low-income area.
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Public bonds approved by City Council Monday are not to exceed $2.25 million, and they are to be retired annually with Jacobsville Tax Increment Financing District revenue.
Of that $2.25 million, only $1.5 million is for the developer, while the rest is for costs related to bond issuance.
The bonds mature in 2040, according to city officials.
The 10-year property tax phase-in, meanwhile, is worth about $330,000 to the developer, said Ellen Horan, director of Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.
City Councilors showed enthusiasm for the project, although Finance Chair Jonathan Weaver, D-At-Large, said he thought the city administration left councilors “out of the loop” about it.
“It’s taking a dead piece of ground and putting something really good on it,†said Dan Adams, D-At-Large.
“Thank you for this project and for helping to bring more affordable housing to our city,†said President Jim Brinkmeyer, D-6th Ward.
The two absent councilors Monday were Missy Mosby, D-2nd Ward, and Stephen Melcher, R-3rd Ward. Melcher’s ward contains the Jacobsville neighborhood.
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