Posted: Sept. 1, 2009 |(0) Comments

Compare the Brookfield Square area of 2004 to that of 2009, and you'll see a huge difference.

New shops and restaurants border the shopping center at the southwest corner of Bluemound and Moorland roads, and another shopping center - admittedly with vacancies caused by closed businesses - sits to the north of Bluemound.

Construction continues on a 144-unit luxury apartment complex farther north on Wisconsin Avenue, and a new bank office welcomes corporate visitors from across the country on Executive Drive to the west.

City officials say the growth came thanks to the city's only tax-incremental financing district - established in August 2004 and containing lands in the Brookfield Square/Executive Drive area - but one of the plan's critics says the TIF district drives development at the expense of taxpayers who won't enjoy the benefits for years.

'A tremendous impact'

The city will borrow $21 million - about $32 million taking interest into account - over the 23-year life of the district to pay to improve roads, storm sewers and other infrastructure in the area. The arrangement is designed to drive nearly $100 million in new development in the Brookfield Square and Executive Drive area.

That new development will add to the tax base and increase tax collections in the city, thereby reducing the burden on residential taxpayers. However, that won't happen until the TIF closes in 2027 - until then, the property tax money that would be generated by the new construction will be used to pay off the debt. This means the city, county and school district also will not benefit from the added tax increment until the district is closed.

The district contains 23 properties north and south of Bluemound Road, including Sears, Boston Store and J.C. Penney at Brookfield Square. The district does not include the stores inside Brookfield Square and new restaurants like Mitchell's Fish Market and Claim Jumper, but does include the freestanding shops and restaurants - Fleming's, Stir Crazy, The Fresh Market and Ethan Allen - on the north side of the mall.

The district also includes the Fountain Square shopping center north of Bluemound, the Georgetown Square residential development on Wisconsin Avenue and the new M&I University on Executive Drive.

One of the city's main goals for the district was to spur development, and that seems to have happened, Mayor Jeff Speaker said.

"It's been a very positive influence on that whole area," he said. "It's had a tremendous impact on the city."

Dan Ertl, the city's director of community development, said he thinks development likely would have occurred at and around Brookfield Square without the TIF district, but not necessarily at the same rate.

Payoff takes decades

But Alderman Chris Blackburn, one of two aldermen who voted against the creation of the district in 2004, said many of the projects that have been built in the last five years - Fountain Square and Georgetown Square, for instance - were on track before the TIF was established.

Blackburn said Brookfield's TIF district is "de facto real estate speculation on the part of the municipality."

"They're betting that this develop is going to pay off in the future," he said.

Blackburn said TIF districts should not be used to drive development but, rather, in situations where the payoff will not take decades, such as the cleanup of a brownfield site that is otherwise unlikely to develop.

"A TIF makes perfect sense if you're in Detroit or somewhere that's already blighted," he said.

Blackburn said the district is unfair to residents, since they are paying taxes to help improve roads and sewers in the area but won't see a payback on their investment for another two decades.

Road extensions targeted

Another main goal of TIF District No. 3 is the improvement of public infrastructure, and the plans established in 2004 outlined two key projects - the extension of Executive Drive north to Wisconsin Avenue and the extension of Wisconsin to Pilgrim Parkway in Elm Grove.

The city plans to complete the Executive Avenue extension in 2012, coordinating the project with a resurfacing effort the state is doing on Bluemound Road that year, Ertl said.

Discussions are continuing about the potential Wisconsin Avenue-Pilgrim Parkway connection, an effort that will require cooperation between the city, Elm Grove and Waukesha County.

Ertl said other public infrastructure efforts in the TIF plan - including roads connecting Brookfield Square and Executive drives and the construction of parking structures - are dependent on housing developing in the area, one aspect of the TIF plan that has lagged.

Pace could slacken

While several developments have occurred in the TIF in the last five years, continued growth might not be as consistent in the future, Ertl said.

"(Development) might plateau for a period of time," he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

23

properties in Tax-Incremental Financing District No. 3, which includes properties north and south of Bluemound Road and west of Moorland Road

149

acres of land in TIF District No. 3

$77.8 million

growth in property value through 2008

$209 million

total value of properties in the district in 2008, up from $131.1 million in 2004

AT A GLANCE

What were the city's previous TIF districts used for?

1978: To rebuild two bridges, acquire land for Brookfield Industrial Park, construct water reservoir and other public improvements

1979: Land acquisition and public works projects for relocation of Dousman Stagecoach Inn, traffic signals at Moorland Road and Hackberrry Lane, sanitary sewer and drainage improvements west of Executive Drive