×

FD City Council approves $5.8M for Corridor Plaza

Project bond issue approved

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Part of the steel framework for a new sports pavilion at Corridor Plaza has been constructed. When complete, the 200-by-250-foot building will house four basketball courts, three pickleball courts and a microbrewery restaurant. It is a roughly $13 million project. It will be owned and operated by M & M LLC, of Ankeny. The Fort Dodge City Council on Monday approved a roughly $5.8 million bond issue that includes financial assistance for the developer.

The Fort Dodge City Council on Monday borrowed about $5.8 million to support the development of Corridor Plaza.

The debt will be paid off with property tax revenue generated by the retail and entertainment complex on the site of the former Crossroads Mall.

A sports pavilion being created on the west side of the complex will get the biggest portion of the money, about $2.65 million.

The 200-by-250-foot building now under construction will house four basketball courts, three pickleball courts and a microbrewery restaurant. The $13 million facility will be owned and operated by M & M LLC, of Ankeny.

In March, the council approved a development agreement with M & M that included the $2.65 million, plus five annual payments of $275,000.

The remaining money will be spent on an outdoor plaza ($2 million) and infrastructure within Corridor Plaza ($1.1 million).

The City Council is borrowing the money via a bond issue. The city government’s financial adviser, PFM, of Des Moines, went to the bond market Monday.

As a result, the money will be borrowed from a coalition of investment firms led by Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It offered an interest rate of 4.98 percent.

That is a higher interest rate than the city has received on several recent bond issues, but Councilman Dave Flattery said, “That’s still a good rate.”

Early in Monday’s meeting, the council added Corridor Plaza to the Center City and Industrial Park Urban Renewal Areas. That means that tax increment financing will be used to pay off the bond debt. Tax increment financing occurs when increased property tax revenue from a designated area is set aside to be reinvested in that area. Paying off bond debt is a common use of tax increment financing.

Councilmembers Quennel McCaleb and Lydia Schuur were absent from the otherwise unanimous votes Monday.

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today