BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council’s Tuesday agenda lists a possible deal with a non-profit organization to develop 32 lots in the Timberline Addition as affordable housing.

The meeting starts at 5 p.m. with a study session on the Humane Society Task Force report; the regular meeting, which includes the affordable housing agenda item, starts at 6 p.m.

“PEM Affordable Housing LLC has submitted a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) pre-application for a 32-lot affordable housing project. The applicant is proposing to sell 32 shovel-ready residential lots to Inter-Lakes Community Action Partnership’s Mutual Self-Help Housing Program. 

“The proposed project is located within the Timberline Addition bounded by the future streets of Brighton Road, Summit Pass, Steamboat Trail and West 16th Avenue. The TIF proposal is a pay-as-you-go, whereby the developer is responsible for fronting all of the costs and would be reimbursed as increment is generated to the extent permissible by state law,” according to an attachment to the agenda, available on the city’s website.

“The total project cost for the project is $2,409,904, of which the applicant is requesting $1,481,904 as TIF eligible expenses. The applicant will sell the 32 residential lots to ICAP for $29,000 per lot and re-invest the revenue from the sale of the residential lots directly back into the project, thus reducing the total TIF eligible expenses to $1,481,904 as requested,” according to the attachment.

“ICAP will in turn provide residential lots through their Mutual Self-Help Housing Program. Homeowners are pre-qualified for the program through income restrictions and participate in the build process. The individual home loans are guaranteed by USDA-Rural Development. Past ICAP homes have been constructed in Brookings in the $120,000-$130,000 range,” the council agenda reported.

The City of Brookings has 99 residential lots for sale with an average listing price of $53,188. The lowest priced lot was $37,400 with a total of seven lots listed under $40,000.

“This is a pay-as-you-go TIF whereby the developer fronts the costs of infrastructure, site development, etc., and is reimbursed by increment generated from development. The city is not financing the project and assumes no risk,” according to the attachment.

In another action item, the council will consider a liquor license for the Old Market Eatery for a Humane Society fundraiser on July 19.

The Brookings Regional Humane Society is the subject of a task force report during the study session of the meeting. 

The 22-page report is available on the city’s website as an attachment to the agenda.

The BRHS has approached the city and county in an attempt to find a way to better fund the facility and give its animals a better quality of care, as BRHS continues to struggle financially. A large part of the report is facility solutions, which include making modifications all the way to constructing a new facility.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.