TIM LANDIS
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Two Springfield aldermen want to move quickly to create a tax increment financing district to improve blighted areas of MacArthur Boulevard. There still is the question of cost and winning city council approval, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe told the Macarthur Boulevard Business Association on Thursday.
But they said developer interest in the boulevard has picked up — including an out-of-state developer who is interested in the former Kmart building — and TIF incentives could help that momentum continue.
“It’s very important that we move quickly with a TIF along MacArthur,” McMenamin said.
4 properties needed
He said a developer he could not yet name is trying to put together four tracts of land — the former Kmart, the former Spillway Lanes bowling alley, the Town & Country Shell service station and at TitleMax payday loan outlet at 2155 S. MacArthur Blvd.
McMenamin said neglected commercial sections of the MacArthur corridor between South Grand and Wabash avenues meet two basic TIF requirements — blighted buildings and declining property values.
A meeting is planned next week with city officials to gauge interest in the TIF. The Lakota Group consulting firm also included a TIF among possible incentives in a study of MacArthur Boulevard redevelopment.
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TIF study
McMenamin estimated it would take $35,000 to $55,000 to pay for a TIF study, which would take 12 to 15 months. He suggested the city, the boulevard association and commercial groups split the cost three ways.
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McMenamin said after the meeting that the effort is in its early stages , but he believes he and Jobe can round up additional council votes for the six needed to approve the TIF.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 