The developer behind the major residential and commercial project proposed for Portland’s Bayside area is seeking $4.3 million in tax credits from the state.
The city announced in October that the development, known as the midtown project, was back on track after proposed changes to the number of apartment units threatened to derail it, five years after it was originally proposed. The project’s four proposed buildings between Chestnut and Somerset streets would include 450 residential units, 840 parking spaces and 90,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.
The city said in October that construction was expected begin by the end of the year and take up to two years to complete. The developer is Miami-based Federated Cos.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the tax credit application from an investor in the project has been vetted by Finance Authority of Maine staffers and may be reviewed by the state agency in December.
It’s the first application for the New Markets capital investment program since the finance authority tightened the program’s rules to prevent the use of so-called one-day-loans to artificially boost the value of an investment.
The program faced criticism after a Maine Sunday Telegram investigation published in April showed that Cate Street Capital inflated the value of its investment in the Great Northern Paper mill by tens of millions to secure more tax credits, even though not all of the investment was used on the mill.
CityScape Capital Group, an investment company based in Princeton, N.J., submitted its application to FAME on Nov. 6, the paper reported.
The Press Herald has a comprehensive outline of all of the moving parts, and parties, in the complex, proposed deal.
A Federated subsidiary will lend $8.1 million to an investment fund operated by U.S. Bank, which will then bundle the loan with its own cash and lend $10.95 million to a CityScape subsidiary.
The $4.3 million in taxpayer-funded tax credits would go to U.S. Bank, which is contributing $2.9 million to the project for the promise of receiving the tax credits over the next seven years.
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Developer of Portland’s midtown project drops plan to pursue tax credits from the state
