Knoxville City Council Workshop on Redevelopment Incentives and Process – June 12, 2026
Knoxville City Council Workshop on Redevelopment Incentives and Process
The Knoxville City Council held a workshop on June 12, 2026, to review the city’s process for corridor redevelopment, payment in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), tax increment financing (TIFs), and other public-private partnership tools. Presenters Rebecca Jane Justice and Ben Bentley from the City’s Urban Design and Development team (in coordination with KCDC) walked council through the key development priorities, the six-month process roadmap, financial vetting steps, and case studies. Council members asked questions about early engagement, the “but for” test, workforce housing requirements, and the duration of incentives.
Opening & Roll Call
- The workshop was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Vice Mayor Lynn Fugate. Council member Denzel Grant led the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Roll call listed nine members: Adams, DeBardelaben, Fugate, Grant, Hillsley, Honeycutt, Moyd, Parker, and Thomas. However, the minutes state “five of nine are in attendance,” creating a discrepancy.
Presentation: Process Overview
- Key Development Priorities: Projects are evaluated on housing expansion (including 10–20% workforce housing in multifamily), location in redevelopment areas or along transit corridors, historic preservation, innovative design, and sustainability.
- Process Roadmap: Approximately six months from initial application to approval. Steps include:
- Submission of Exhibit A (preliminary project snapshot).
- Initial city review with an interdisciplinary team (city staff, KCDC, planning, engineering, etc.) to assess alignment and challenges.
- Preliminary financial review (Exhibit B) by KCDC, analyzing construction costs, borrowing rates, equity, and internal rate of return (IRR).
- Third-party financial review by an outside consultant.
- Public approvals (City Council, County Commission, KCDC board, as applicable).
- Finalization of legal documents.
- Exhibits A, B, C: Increasingly detailed financial and qualitative information required from developers. Available on the city website.
- Entitlements: Projects typically require zoning, design review board approval, or variances before financial vetting begins.
Discussion Items
- Councilman Grant requested to be involved earlier in the process (Step 1B – initial city review) to provide district-specific feedback. Presenters suggested that developers be encouraged to contact their district council member during early conversations.
- Councilman Thomas asked how often private developers approach saying they cannot proceed without an incentive. Presenters confirmed that the “but for” test (the project would not happen without public support) is central to financial vetting.
- Councilman DeBardelaben asked about the timing of public disclosure of potential incentives. Presenters noted that disclosure typically occurs during the third-party review stage, after internal clarity that a project will likely need a vote.
- Councilman Grant asked how the duration of PILOTs or TIFs is determined. Presenters explained it is based on a 10-year IRR model, with the duration affecting the return. Durations have shortened over time; examples range from 5 to 30 years, with current trends toward 10–20 years.
- Councilman Thomas noted the trend toward shorter PILOT durations and expressed satisfaction with the rigorous analysis.
- Councilwoman Adams asked about the establishment of new redevelopment areas. The process involves a council resolution, notification of property owners, public hearings, and approvals by City Council, County Commission, and KCDC board. Presenters emphasized that redevelopment areas are general frameworks, not prescriptive development plans.
- Vice Mayor Fugate asked how many redevelopment districts exist. Presenters said there are about 12 active districts, though some are older and less relevant. They noted that redevelopment areas do not automatically sunset but are used as needed.
- Councilman Moyd asked about workforce housing. Presenters confirmed that the 10–20% requirement is a negotiation starting point, and that after a PILOT expires, rents can gradually increase to market rates to avoid tenant shock.
Case Studies
- 200 Block of Gay Street: $30 million mixed-use project (53 condo units, 20,000 sq ft retail) with $3.7 million TIF. First new construction on Gay Street in 40 years, converting a surface parking lot.
- Cumberland Avenue Streetscapes: $25 million city investment in multimodal infrastructure leveraging approximately $1 billion in private student housing and mixed-use development. A PILOT was used only for structured parking (2,000 spaces), not for housing.
- Grosvenor Square: 184 mixed-income affordable units supported by a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) PILOT. Developer also donated 27 acres of hilltop land to Legacy Parks for preservation.
- Facade and Historic Program: Smaller grants for building envelope improvements, shown on Broadway and North Central Street.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or formal decisions were taken; the workshop was informational.
- Council members expressed strong support for the process and tools, with Vice Mayor Fugate noting that the $2 billion in private investment since 2020, over 8,000 housing units (5,000 affordable), and $5 million in new property tax revenue demonstrate the value of these partnerships.
- Council members emphasized the need for continued proactive engagement along corridors, especially for housing, and suggested that redevelopment areas can unlock potential on underutilized properties.
- A follow-up request was implied for possible new redevelopment area proposals (e.g., Broadway corridor).
- Presenters committed to making the KCDC 90-year history event content available online.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. It is six o'clock, and I would like to call the this workshop to order. Um, and we will begin um with uh councilman Grant leading us in the pledge. Please stand as you are able. Text Bob Frost, council attorney. And I'm in the basics of America. We're just saying, uh individual justice for all. The individuals lower their hands and sit back down at the desk. You please call roll. Text Lynn Fugate, Vice Mayor, text Angela Hopper, Assistant City Recorder. Three look at items on tables. Councilwoman Adams. Councilman DeBard Laban. Here. Count Vice Mayor Fugo. Here. Councilman Grant. Here. Councilwoman Hillsley. Councilman Honeycub. Councilman Moyd. Councilwoman Parker. Councilman Thomas. Five of nine are in attendance. So, um, as as we all know, um, as council members, we've expressed a great interest in what goes on with corridor redevelopment, pilots, tiffs, the process that or that we use. Rob Frost touches his hair and face that happens before things get to us. So tonight I'm pleased that we have Rebecca Jane Justice and Ben Bentley who work on those things for the City of Knoxville here to talk to us and we will they have a presentation. Vice Mayor Fugate speaks. After the part about process, we'll take open it up for questions, then they'll move on to a next session section. So we'll kind of stop in the middle so we don't have to remember all our questions till the very end. And at the end of their presentation, then we will open it up for discussion and other questions we have about development along the corridors, barriers, things that we think might be interested to do, and just let this be a conversation as we all work to make things better in Knoxville. So I think we have the presentation up and so uh Miss Justice, are you starting us? Yes. All right. Are we ready? Start. Yes. I don't know if you wanted me to sing the national anthem next. No, ma'am, we don't do that. That sounds good. It's better for all concerned. Well, we appreciate you all inviting us tonight to talk about um redevelopment and public finance tools. Uh we talk a lot about this and specifically over the last few years where we've had so much growth and interests and investment in Knoxville, so how we can be strategic and collaborative in creative ways. It's great to talk about not only what is possible, but what the process is. Um over the course of the next few moments, uh we have organized our information into just talking about why economic development incentives are important, where they're appropriate and focused. We'll share with you an overview of the process and not only talk about the process but show you where we direct people to find out about the process and what resources are available on our city web pages, and then we'll dive into what tools are available as public-private partnerships, what's in our toolbox, and then we'll move on to show you some case studies and talk about a little more specifically how those tools have come to life in a few specific projects and just talk about the mechanics of a few projects for some case studies, and then we'll wrap up by sharing how these projects have delivered and what the benefits and the investment opportunity has brought to Knoxville with these partnerships. Rebecca Jessure's a man beside her looks at a laptop. So I'm gonna jump back and forth between the slides and the the web because I think that it's important to show you all how we direct people to these resources. So this is the urban design and development city web page, and I know we're about to change all of our web resources, but um that this information will still be there. So if you jump to a live web page, um you're right here, and you have you can easily get there by typing urban design in the search for anything box.
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