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The redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel in Madison is stuck in limbo due to TIF district issues. The planning stages of the project have extended past a year. (Photo by Joe Yovino)
The proposed Edgewater Hotel redevelopment in Madison isn’t moving forward this year and may never get out of city government, according to Madison Common Council President Mark Clear.
The project has been mired in controversies, including an ongoing lawsuit brought by Madison’s Mansion Hill Historic District, and government wrangling for more than a year.
“There is no way this project is going to move forward this year,” Clear said. “There’s just not enough time left.”
The city is amending a tax-incremental financing district that includes the hotel’s property, 666 Wisconsin Ave., and several others on the block to the east and west of the Edgewater.
Madison has to come up with the scope of the TIF district before making recommendations to the Joint Review Board. The review board — made up of city, Dane County, school district and Madison Area Technical College officials — would then need to approve the TIF district.
TIF districts let municipalities borrow money to subsidize developments and pay for utility and street work that serves projects. Communities then use new taxes generated by the projects to pay off the debt.
“It all needs to happen by the end of the month,” Clear said. “Right now, the city is horse trading over the size of the TIF district. Several members (of the Common Council) are interested in having a smaller (TIF) district, so we’ll see what happens.”
If the TIF district is expanded, a TIF loan would need to be secured before the proposed redevelopment project could move forward.
“That’s live six of the project right now,” Clear said. “Live seven is securing an actual TIF loan. I’m not sure how many lives are left.”
— Joe Yovino
