The Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD) Board of Directors is presenting this recommendation to the City Council for allocating $99,881.60 in tax increment finance funds (TIF) from the East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD) to J Bird Luv, LLC, for its Liberty and Vine development project. The property is located at 2019 Montana Avenue and funds would be used for interior demolition and construction work on the existing building, redevelopment costs associated with permitting for remodeling, frontage improvements, utilities and storm water management (See Liberty and Vine Application Attachment). If approved, the TIF funds will reimburse the applicant for the described costs for the redevelopment of the property for a mercantile store and a retail/restaurant space on the first floor, and five loft apartment units on the upper floor. The applicant plans to begin construction this spring and have much of the remodeling work completed by summer. The BIRD Board of Directors voted to support funding of this application at its meeting on February 20, 2018, under its authority per the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Billings, Big Sky Economic Development, and the BIRD, Inc. approved by the City Council in February 2014.  

↵The City Council is the final authority in disbursing TIF funding. The City Council may:

• Approve the recommendation from the BIRD Board for the expenditure of these TIF funds, or;
• Disapprove the recommendation from the BIRD Board for the expenditure of these TIF funds.

The request is for a total of $99,881.60 to be paid in one payment to J Bird Luv, LLC, for the identified work (See TIF Application Attachment). The estimated total project development cost is $3.1 million, making the private to public investment ratio for this project about 30:1.  The funds are payable when the applicant completes the entire redevelopment project. There is funding in the FY 17-18 EBURD project budget for payment of TIF assistance. This project is to start in the spring of 2018 and is likely to be completed in FY 19 (after June 30, 2018) under a new project budget cycle. The current cash balance for the EBURD is about $1.4 million.
 

The Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD) Board of Directors recommends that the City Council approve a reimbursement totaling $99,881.60 from the EBURD tax increment finance district funds to J Bird Luv, LLC, for its Liberty and Vine redevelopment project at 2019 Montana Avenue.