Howard could create a special taxing district to cover the developer?s expense for building a new 700-space parking garage, allowing a planned project at the Savage MARC station to move forward.
“It?s important to us to make sure this project works out,” said Sharon Greisz, Howard?s finance chief.
The taxing district known as tax incremental financing (TIF) would generate future revenue from the development at the station including a hotel, restaurants and office space.
However, this will not create a new tax for current residents. TIFs are used by local jurisdictions to build infrastructure to encourage new development, Greisz said.
“It?s a method that has been around a long time, but just not used in Howard,” she said.
The cost of the garage ? $17.5 million ? is more than the value of the 13-acre parcel, which is $3.5 million, said Phillip Ross, president of Petrie Ross Ventures LLC, which is developing the property.
Because the project is on state-owned land and no revenue is being generated, the developers need a special taxing district for the remaining $14 million to fund the commuter garage.
Ross said the developer would borrow the money to build the garage and Howard would rebate the developer from the taxes generated by the development.
“We are proposing to take all the risk,” he said, adding he was confident the development would generate the money.
Once the bonds used to build the garage are paid off, the district goes away, Greisz said. The TIF must go through local legislation, so the public will have an opportunity to comment.
The county is reviewing an application from Petrie Ross.
“We want to make sure what the developer plans to do makes sense,” Greisz said.
The project was first announced last August by then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who said the project would help meet the area?s needs brought on by the military restructuring at Fort Meade. The project is a transit-oriented development, which centers around transit stations to increase ridership.
At a glance
The planned mixed-use project at the Savage MARC station will include:
» 416 residential units
» 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurants
» 120-room hotel
» 80,000 square feet of office space
» 700-space garage
Source: Petrie-Ross Ventures
