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March 29, 2006
Renewed Renewal
Mayor Ron Littlefield joined a slew of local officials in announcing that the city has petitioned the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to double the neighborhoods eligible for Renewal Community tax breaks.
"We'll be able to use the full measure of our tax credits," Littlefield said at a press conference at the Saddlery Building this morning. "This is a very important program. I will not attempt to explain it to you."
We will: Chattanooga currently receives $12 million in Federal tax incentives for private construction and restoration projects for "distressed communities" including Alton Park and the Southside. Littlefield's request to HUD would expand the Renewal Community boundaries to include an area stretching from Cameron Hill north to Manufacturers Road and east to the Avondale and Oak Grove neighborhoods (see chart below). If approved, the expansion would make more than 15,000 residents eligible for tax breaks for constructing new businesses or restoring aging buildings.
"Bottom line: it creates new jobs, it creates new wealth, as a result of restoring old buildings or building new ones," said Enterprise Center CEO Joe Ferguson.
Since the city began its Renewal Comunities project in 2002, the mayor's office says 34 building projects in poor neighborhoods have received Federal tax breaks. (The Saddlery Building is one such project. Natch.) Chattanooga is one of two cities in Tennessee to receive HUD breaks: we split $24 million with Memphis.
"Chattanooga was in there when others were sleeping," Littlefield said. "I told [Memphis] we don't plan on giving anything up anytime soon."
News Update | By mesh | 12:10 PM
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