PHILADELPHIA-The City Council approved a Tax Increment Financing district designation for the two-acre site at the corner of Broad St. and Cecil B. Moore Ave. that has been cleared by Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and leased to Beech Corp., a local non-profit community development corporation. In turn, Beech is leasing the parcel to a joint venture between locally based Tower Investments and Felder & Associates for construction, development and operation of a 92,000-sf retail and movie complex.
The project cost, including acquisition, new construction and tenant fit-up, is estimated at $20.9 million. Tower, headed by Bart Blatstein, will fund $13.9 million of the bill and receive public funding from the commonwealth and city for the remainder. The TIF is expected to generate approximately $5 million of the public funding. Plans call for 60,000 sf of ground-floor retail fronting Broad St. with a six-screen movie theater on the second level. A call to Tower regarding the timeline for development was not returned by deadline.
TIF uses increases in local tax revenues to spur economic development. Under the state's TIF act, the city and school district of Philadelphia can designate a TIF district for underutilized or blighted parcels. Increased tax revenues generated by redevelopment of the district are then used to repay privately financed construction debt for the project over a 20-year term. Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. is the city's designated agent for administering the TIF program.
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