TIF district for Quimby Village OKd’
April 12, 2016
TIF district for Quimby Village OKd
Developers are reported to already have interest in area
Dave Gong | Journal Gazette
The Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission on Monday approved the final step toward creating a tax increment financing district for Quimby Village.
The commission approved the plan to create the special district at its Dec. 14 meeting, after which the proposal went the Fort Wayne Plan Commission and the Fort Wayne City Council for additional approval. Monday’s vote was the final action needed to implement the new district in south Fort Wayne, Redevelopment Director Nancy Townsend said.
A tax increment financing district is a form of economic development incentive used to entice businesses to move to an area. Property tax revenue generated within a TIF district can be captured and used for public improvements within that district. The Quimby Village district will encompass the area roughly bounded by Bluffton Road to the south, Broadway to the east, Kinsmoor Avenue to the north and Brooklyn Avenue to the west.
Townsend noted that some developers, businesses and area residents have already expressed interest in revitalizing Quimby Village.
“We have received a lot of positive feedback from the surrounding residential neighborhoods in support of the activities being planned here,” Townsend said.
The tax increment financing district was announced late last year. Improvements to Quimby Village and the Clyde Theater were also part of northeast Indiana’s Regional Cities Initiative proposal. The region was one of three awarded $42 million for capital improvement projects aimed at improving quality of life and place.
The Clyde Theatre is being renovated by owner Rick Kinney, who purchased the property in 2013. The theater shut its doors for good in 1994 and has not reopened to the public since, despite several renovation attempts.
“I certainly hope and encourage the Regional Cities Initiative to put this at or near the top of their list because I think it would have a huge impact on this part of the city,” Commission President Christopher Guerin said.
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