Hasso Hering Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Sunday, June 3, 2007 10:00 pm
The developer of Edgewater Village, a proposed condominium complex on the Willamette River, has asked the downtown Albany redevelopment agency for financial help of up to $2.4 million.
The $22 million project consisting of 146 residential condos would be built on the site of the former Inland Quick Freeze processing plant, which closed several years ago and then was destroyed by fire in May 2006.
The advisory board of CARA, the Central Albany Revitalization Agency, and then the agency itself will consider the funding request at a meeting that starts at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall. The agency consists of the mayor and council, and the advisory board is made up of those officials and several others.
The developer of Edgewater Village is RCM Homes of Lake Oswego.
The plans show a series of townhouses facing the river and 18 separate buildings closer to Water Avenue and the track used by the Portland & Western Railroad.
"From staff's perspective, this mix of product, with high-end town homes along the river and their 'stacked flat' (a six-unit building with three levels) inland seems to be an outstanding match for this site," urban renewal coordinator Kate Porsche wrote in a staff report.
The developers would like a three-part grant from CARA:
• $900,000 toward the cost of demolition of the industrial freezer plant on the site.
• $1 million to help compensate for an estimated drop in profitability of the project because of meeting city wishes.
• And up to $500,000 if it's necessary to install two crossing gates on the Water Avenue rail line.
The city staff estimates that once the project is completed and sold, it will generate tax revenue of $325,000 the first year.
The annual taxes would repay CARA's investment in seven years.