Ames City Council Votes Tuesday To Apply For Reinvestment District Funds

Press release from the City of Ames:

December 9, 2020

The Ames City Council voted Tuesday to pursue creating a Reinvestment District including property being developed along the north side of Lincoln Way, from Clark to Kellogg avenues, to generate revenue through Iowa’s Reinvestment District Program. The recently reenacted State of Iowa program provides a 20-year rebate of State sales and hotel/motel tax produced by the new development to enable municipalities to construct “unique and transformative projects” within the new District.

The Ames City Council approved applying for the program in order to fund an indoor aquatics center within the District and move forward with a new Downtown plaza. Pre-application for the program is due by Feb. 22, 2021.

“I hope citizens understand that the compressed timeline for this program creates enormous challenges,” said Mayor John Haila. “Yet this generates an extraordinary opportunity to move forward on a needed community amenity that would otherwise require significant property tax support.”

During the meeting, Mayor Haila noted how quickly the process was moving and the importance of providing information to residents. “The opportunity to compete for these funds was unexpected and occurred without much advance notice. We will continue to provide details about the project and application as it becomes available,” he said.

The Reinvestment District program ranks applications on criteria including uniqueness of project, economic impact of project, feasibility, capital investment, and nonretail focus. Additional factors include readiness, geographic diversity, and funding need.

The City is considering 122 N. Oak Ave. as the location for the indoor aquatic center, which is property owned by the Iowa Department of Transportation and north of its main entrance, and the parking lot east of City Hall for the Downtown plaza. As part of its approval, the City Council agreed to hire three consultants to provide an indoor aquatic center concept, a Downtown plaza concept, and an economic impact and feasibility analysis of the project components.

The current Ames Municipal Pool, located at Ames High School, is scheduled for demolition in early 2022, and replacing it is a City Council priority. Without a plan for a new indoor pool, Ames will be without a public indoor warm-water swimming option within two years.

“Over the 20 years of the rebate, more than $10 million could be generated to fund an indoor aquatics center for our residents,” said Mayor Haila. “The last time the State of Iowa offered this program was in 2015. Submitting an application now provides the possibility of accessing this incredible opportunity for Ames.”

Funding for a Downtown plaza is already included in the City’s approved Capital Improvements Plan. While the Downtown plaza project and the private Lincoln Way redevelopment will most likely occur without the Reinvestment District incentive, including these two projects in the preapplication will help garner points under the economic impact, capital investment, funding leverage, and non-retail evaluation criteria. In addition, the Downtown indoor aquatic center provides uniqueness points.

Although information about the Ames Reinvestment District application is preliminary, the City of Ames will post a general summary of the project and some FAQs on its website. The information will be updated as more information becomes available at www.CityOfAmes.org/Reinvestment

A recording of the City Council meeting is available in archives at the City of Ames website at: https://www.cityofames.org/government/departments-divisions-i-z/media-production-services/meeting-video-archive

This press release was produced by the City of Ames. The views expressed here are the author’s own.