Title
Authorizing the early release of approved STAR funds for the Schmidt Rathskeller Project.
Body
WHEREAS, the West 7th Fort Road Federation (“Federation”) is a small neighborhood-based, private, non-profit development organization that is redeveloping a portion of the former Schmidt Brewery complex for commercial purposes (the “Project”), including the “Rathskeller” office building, the Keg and Case Storage building, and several ancillary outlots; and
WHEREAS, the Federation is undertaking the Project in conjunction with Dominium Development & Acquisition, LLC’s (“Dominium’s”) efforts to redevelop most of the remainder of the Schmidt Brewery site into approximately 220 units of affordable rental housing; and
WHEREAS, in early 2011, the Federation was awarded $1,895,715 in Jobs Bill TIF funding from the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (“HRA”) for the first phase of their redevelopment efforts: Property acquisition, stabilization of the Rathskeller building, pollution mitigation, and various pre-development activities; and
WHEREAS, on December 21, 2011 the Saint Paul City Council approved Resolution #11-2577 that provided a $200,000 Neighborhood STAR grant to the West 7th Fort Road Federation for use on Phase II of the Project, the completed redevelopment of the Rathskeller building; and
WHEREAS, on July 18, 2012 the Saint Paul City Council approved Resolution #12-1305 that provided a $400,000 Neighborhood STAR loan to the West 7th Fort Road Federation for use on Phase II of the Project; and
WHEREAS, although the City often approves STAR funding for projects early in the development process, the Department of Planning and Economic Development (“PED”), which administers the Neighborhood STAR program, typically only releases public funds when all other necessary funding is in place and construction commences; and
WHEREAS, the Federation is requesting that the City provide early access to the 20% ($120,000) of the STAR funding that is inte...
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