City to Kick In Millions More in TIF Dough to Get Lake Highlands Town Center Back on Track

After last week's accidental tour of the Lake Highlands Town Center, or what there is of it, we discovered: Prescott Realty and the city's Office of Economic Development are hustling to get that long-dormant development off the ground years after that big-deal groundbreaking was buried in the economic collapse. Matter of fact, per agendas posted to the city's website, tomorrow the Skillman Corridor TIF District's board will meet at City Hall to finalize a few details before going before the city council on June 22.

Among the topics of conversation: bringing in a "third-party consultant" (Street-Works) to figure out what works best for the site; extending the due-by deadline; and shrinking min-square-footage requirements for at least the first two phases of the project at Skillman and Walnut Hill.

But more important, the city wants to way-up the amount of future TIF revenue going toward the project -- from the $23 million the council agreed upon years ago to $40 million. Not only that, but the city wants to turn some of that into an outright "economic development grant," as well as use $1.37 million of the TIF district's "available cash" as reimbursement for the already completed infrastructure work.

Karl Zavitkovsky, head of economic development, is out of the office till tomorrow. And Prescott's higher-ups, including CEO Jud Pankey, still haven't returned our calls placed a week ago. But fresh messages have been left.