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Developer incentives for the Slipaway Food Truck Park & Marina are on Wednesday's South Cape Community Redevelopment Agency meeting agenda.
Cape Parkway LLC, owner of Slipaway, is requesting reimbursement of $250,000 for a Business Infrastructure, or BIG, grant and $2,618,525 in a tax increment financing request.
Tax increment financing, or TIF, allows the CRA to fund or incentivize improvement projects by rebating all or some of the increased tax revenues generated back to the developer.
A letter sent from Annette Barbaccia on May 7 to the city's Economic Development Director on behalf of Cape Parkway LLC states they "are requesting a total of $2,868,525 in tax increment financing and business infrastructure grant support from the Community Redevelopment Agency for the proposed Slipaway project, consistent with our prior Tax Increment Financing and Business Infrastructure Grant requests submitted to your office."
The letter explains the challenges the project has had, which are consistent with other projects in the CRA. Those include "the lack of utilities to the site, and coordination with the county regarding the redesign of the Cape Coral Bridge and roadway. These items have resulted in significant unexpected expenditures. The project site has hosted Red White and Boom since 2013 at no cost to the city and my clients have intentionally kept construction on a fast pace to ensure meeting this upcoming July event."
The owners paid the upfront cost of bringing the offsite lines to the property for sewer pipes and connections.
"The principals have also had their consultants and engineers work directly with the city and county staff to ensure compatibility with the county's proposed bridge and roadway design, which has resulted in design and construction changes and related costs to the project. This includes construction of a gravity wall and loss of land for a deacceleration lane," the letter states. "They are requesting that these items be funded through the TIF and BIG programs."
The total cost for the project is $19.4 million, with a targeted completion date of next month. The riverfront project features a central open-air bar pavilion with 154 seats, six shaded pavilions with 144 seats, an event pavilion, a Ship Shack retail building, 10 food truck pads, 30 boat slips and restrooms, and parking.
The funding recommendation by city staff is a TIF award up to $726,561 over 10 years and BIG Award for $250,000.
Cape Coral City Council, sitting the CRA governing board, will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 14, in Council Chambers, 1015 Cultural Park Blvd. The meeting is open to the public.