Latest news with #RHID
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Topeka City Council takes first steps toward giving Jim Klausman tax incentives
The Topeka City Council approved the first steps toward giving Jim Klausman new tax incentives. During Tuesday's meeting, the council approved submitting findings related to the creation of a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District in Lauren's Bay to the Kansas secretary of commerce for review. Council members Christina Valdivia-Alcalá and David Banks voted no. Assistant city manager Braxton Copley said this is the first step toward getting the RHID tax incentive approved. In a city meeting Feb. 11, council members discussed whether they should allow 16 Lauren's Bay lots to be turned into an RHID. During the discussion, concerns were raised about opening themselves up to litigation by allowing developer Klausman tax incentives despite owing money to the city. Klausman owns 140 of the Lauren's Bay lots through various companies. However, he is seeking tax incentives for just 16 of the lots. Lauren's Bay is located near S.W. 47th Street and Wanamaker Road, and is a neighborhood in the Auburn-Washburn school district. In previous discussions, the city council has debated whether to give Klausman tax incentives or why they are negotiating paybacks with him in the first place. Earlier in the evening, the council approved the negotiations with Klausman on how he would repay the owed money on the 16 lots. Part of the agreement was giving Klausman tax incentives for those lots. The approved agreement between the Topeka administration and Klausman states Klausman will pay $2.25 a square foot for a total of $525,333, of which $102,000 would be applied to the current outstanding special assessments, according to city documents. These negotiations are for 16 of the lots and not for all his properties in Lauren's Bay. Various companies owned by Klausman have 124 additional lots in the Lauren's Bay neighborhood. For all 124 lots, Klausman owes $7,274,816 between general back taxes, penalties and uncollected special assessments, which were for the city installing functional infrastructure when the land was first developed. The future special assessments owed for all the lots total $3,617,629. As part of Klausman's negotiations, he is asking for additional tax incentives through a Community Improvement District. Copley said one of the first steps toward approving the additional tax incentives is having a public hearing. Those interested in weighing in on the CID can attend the hearing, which will take place during the April 8 city council meeting. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Jim Klausman is step closer to getting tax incentives for Topeka site
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bonner Springs clears way for new downtown apartments
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The City of Bonner Springs has begun clearing the way to bring residents to downtown. The city announced on Monday, March 10, that site clearing work has begun at Front Street and Oak Street for an apartment complex that . Kansas City anthem for FIFA World Cup events released Tuesday morning The project will , according to the city. There will be 92 parking spaces on-site and overflow parking has been approved at the parking lot on Elm Street between 2nd and 3rd Street. The development was approved by the city and the State for the Revitalization Housing Incentive Program (RHID). According to the city, units will be mostly studios and one-bedrooms with a few two-bedrooms. The construction timeline is approximately 18 months. The apartments are at the site of the former Bonner Springs Thriftway and Dollar General that was demolished in May 2023. Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids announced in 2023 that the project received a grant for $1.7 million from the Kansas Housing resources Corporation. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri This is the first time Bonner Springs has received a grant for housing. . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Topeka, developer reach tentative deal on Lauren's Bay
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Topeka is closer to completing a deal with a local housing developer that would pay off years of back taxes while creating some much needed housing. More than 15 years ago, the City of Topeka struck a deal with a now defunct developer to create a new housing development in the Auburn-Washburn school district near Southwest 47th Street and Southwest Wanamaker Road. Since then, 16 lots at Lauren's Bay Estates have sat empty while taxes and special assessments go unpaid. At its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18, Topeka's Public Infrastructure Committee tentatively signed off on a deal with current developer Jim Klausman that would get the project moving again. After months of negotiations, the developer has agreed to pay the city $2.25 per square foot in past due specials at a total of $525,000. That figure exceeds the total specials debt of $423,000. The developer would also pay off back taxes on the properties. In turn, the development would be named a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID). Future specials would be restructured under a Community Improvement District (CID). Spreading out the specials over a longer period of time would reduce monthly payments from around $300 down to $150. Organization looks to make Manhattan a 'premier sports destination' Topeka's Assistant City Manager Braxton Copley said that's comparable to other area housing developments. 'By use of the RHID, by use of the CID to spread out the special, that allows the developer to build houses out here and sell them in an area that, frankly, has been undevelopable due to the high specials primarily for the last 15-plus years,' District 7 Councilman Neil Dobler said. The Public Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the proposal. The city is working to finish the development agreement in time for the full City Council to discuss at its March 11 meeting. A final City Council vote is scheduled for March 18, just days before the March 31 deadline. 'It's aggressive, but we are all working feverishly to accomplish that,' Copley said. Flu cases in Kansas, U.S. on the rise, worst season in 15 years If the city cannot reach an agreement with the developer by the end of March, the developer will donate the 16 parcels of land in question to the city's land bank. If the governing body approves the deal, it will then go to the Department of Commerce for state approval. 'This isn't ideal. This isn't the route that the development should have taken. The reason we're here is because of things that happened many, many years ago and had nothing to do with the city staff that's in place now, and really had nothing to do with the developer. It was a different developer at that time. So, this is absolutely the best that we're going to get out of this process,' Dobler said. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
