The city has doled out a total $68 million in economic incentive packages to developers in the past four years, according to GlobeSt.com research. Of that total, $26 million alone went to multifamily developers. City officials have not disclosed so far how many of the previous loans are being repaid on schedule.

Under the new incentives arrangement, Cameron Kuhn, the largest redeveloper of Downtown office buildings to date, is getting cash, tax rebates and loans valued at $22.5 million for his Plaza undertaking. That project's first phase will consist of 390,000 sf of office space, 305 residential units, about 100,000 sf of retail and restaurant space, a 12-screen movie theater and a parking garage for 1,600 vehicles. The city's $14-million, 10-year loan will help Kuhn construct a 1,000-space parking garage.

Tampa, FL-based Euro-American Advisors Inc. is receiving incentives valued at $12.5 million for its 55 West condo project. The financial package consists of a $3.5-million tax rebate, a $7-million loan for a parking garage and a $2-million loan to construct a plaza in front of the project. The development is scheduled to break ground in September.

Bouwfonds Property Finance, a Holland-based subsidiary of ABN Amro and Rapenburch Co., has over $130 million invested in the 55 West project, Downtown brokers and mortgage bankers in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com.

Other local developers who have received incentive packages are CNL Financial Group, the largest private property owner in Florida, and Church Street Station developers Robert Kling and Louis Pearlman.

CNL Financial Group, which broke ground last week on a $55-million, 12-story, 291,000-sf, class A Downtown office building, is receiving incentives valued at $1.9 million. The package includes $1.1 million impact fee credits and discounts on utility costs; $154,000 in development incentives; $627,000 in job-creation incentives; and a two-acre land trade with the city.

CNL chairman and CEO James M. Seneff Jr. says the company's incentive agreement with the city calls for CNL to create 418 new, higher-wage jobs by 2008. "CNL has already added 300 of those positions with average annual wages of $60,000--54% higher than the average annual wage in Central Florida," Seneff says.

Church Street Station developers Pearlman and Klong have been promised a total $3.5 million in incentives which tied directly to the redevelopment progress of the seven-acre, former Downtown entertainment hub. The developers will receive $1.5 million when project is half-completed and the balance on completion. They already have 75% of the retail stores along Church Street open and operating, retail brokers monitoring the project's progress tell GlobeSt.com.