Bloomington staff propose residential TIFs for Hopewell South and Summit District to fund infrastructure for attainable housing

City redevelopment staff on Monday presented proposed residential tax increment financing (TIF) districts for the Hopewell South planned unit development and the Summit District, saying TIF-funded infrastructure should unlock more compact, attainable housing near downtown.

Anna Killian Hansen, the redevelopment commission’s executive director (and listed in the meeting as director of the commission’s hand department), told attendees the Hopewell South PUD would redevelop about 6.3 acres — the former IU Health hospital site — and is intended as a pilot to restore a historic street grid, allow smaller lots and alley/trail frontages, and permit housing types not allowed under current R4 zoning.

Hansen said the requested PUD would reduce average home prices by more than 30%, allow roughly 70% more homes than current R4 zoning, and the draft site plan shows about 98 units on roughly 53 lots. She gave an estimated average home price of about $270,000 under the proposed rules versus more than $425,000 under current zoning.

Dana Kerr, an attorney assigned to work with the redevelopment commission, explained that residential TIFs are primarily intended to fund infrastructure — design and construction of streets, sidewalks, water and sewer, stormwater and green space — which is often the largest upfront cost preventing new housing from being built. Kerr said the Hopewell plan includes construction of sections of Fairview and Jackson streets and additional green space.

Travis Vencel of Sullivan Development described the Summit District as five neighborhoods with predominantly residential uses, ranging from owner-occupied single-family to multifamily rentals, and said the TIF would be used to bring the project into compliance with the PUD requirements by funding needed infrastructure.

Meeting materials and draft plans are posted on the city website; Hansen directed attendees to bloomington.in.gov/boards/backslash/redevelopment and provided an email contact. Staff emphasized this meeting is the statutorily required public input step for residential TIFs; a declaratory resolution would follow at a subsequent Redevelopment Commission meeting and then the plan would be considered by the planning commission and Common Council before the RDC holds a public hearing and could adopt a confirmatory resolution.

The presentation cited Indiana Code 36-7-14 and Bloomington Municipal Code 2.18 as the legal authority for the redevelopment commission and TIF districts. Staff said residential TIFs are limited to a maximum 20-year capture period (25 years for nonresidential/commercial TIFs) and that the TIF 'clock' begins when the first debt is due on an issued project.

Deborah Meyerson, president of the redevelopment commission, spoke during public input and asked staff to translate the slide materials into concrete on-the-ground expectations; she said she was excited to see the residential TIF proposals for both neighborhoods. The meeting concluded with staff outlining a tentative schedule, noting the item could return to the RDC for a declaratory resolution at the next regular meeting (possible Feb. 23 or the first March meeting) and that finalization depends on scheduling across multiple entities.

Contacts: Anna (email provided during the meeting) and Dana Kerr (dana.kerr@bloomington.in.gov) were listed for follow-up questions.