Redevelopment Agency Board Meeting - October 28, 2025
Redevelopment Agency Board Meeting - October 28, 2025
This meeting of the Redevelopment Agency Board convened on October 28, 2025, with Chair Doherty, Vice Chair West, Members Cherry, Schlottman, Nelberg, Riley, and Ortiz Thompson present; Members Johnson and Loden excused. The board approved prior meeting minutes and received presentations on redevelopment area incentives and the progress of establishing Redevelopment Area Three. Staff reported on upcoming meeting dates for 2026.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: Vice Chair West moved to approve the final amendments by reference of the regular meeting of April 29, 2025. The motion passed by verbal aye, with one abstention.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Raven Cole (Management Analyst, Economic and Urban Development) informed the board of proposed 2026 meeting dates: January 27, April 28, July 28, and October 27, 2026. She noted an email with the same information would be sent.
Discussion Items
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Redevelopment Area Incentives Update: Tracy Reich, Redevelopment Manager, presented proposed changes to existing programs and a new Tenant Improvement Program (TIP). Key updates include:
- Visual Improvement Program (VIP): New construction of buildings 12 months or younger will be ineligible; tattoo establishments removed from the ineligible list; clarification that only one incentive per APN per year is allowed; emphasis on all permits and entitlements being required; and a "significant improvement" definition to discourage spot fixes.
- Multifamily Renovation Program (renamed from Multifamily Rent Program): Per-door expenditure requirement increased from $20,000 to $30,000; minimum unit count raised from four to five; units must be leased for at least 12 months; single-family home conversions excluded; a definition of "unit" added (requiring a living/bedroom area, kitchen/kitchenette with specific appliances, and a separate bathroom).
- Tenant Improvement Program (TIP): New program offering rebates up to 10% of tenant improvement value, with two tiers: up to $50,000 for properties 2,500–4,999 sq. ft. (transcript read "25,000 square feet") and up to $95,000 for properties 5,000+ sq. ft. Requires a five-year lease term or, if no tenant, must meet two of three criteria: minimum leasable space of 25,000 sq. ft., eligible expenses of $20,000 or more, or at least 10 full-time jobs. Ineligible properties include industrial privilege licenses and cannabis-related operations.
- Other Incentives Under Development: A demolition incentive for vacant/abandoned buildings and an infrastructure incentive (beyond electrical) to address aging pipes and infrastructure in downtown.
- Member Questions and Feedback:
- Member Cherry expressed strong support, noting the programs have helped bridge financing gaps in the Arts District and Fremont East, and that the return on investment is clearly positive.
- Member Schlottman raised a concern about the one VIP per APN per year rule, noting that in multi-tenant buildings like those in the Arts District, different tenants might want separate improvements. Tracy Reich agreed to review the policy with leadership to see if adjustments could be made, such as allowing smaller amounts per tenant in multi-tenant buildings.
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Update on Redevelopment Area Three: Tracy Reich reported that the planning commission supported the establishment in August, and the city council approved it in September. Staff are now preparing a blight study checklist and schedule. A one-page flyer (English on one side, Spanish on the other) has been created for field staff to leave with citizens, including a QR code and link to a website. Staff are coordinating with neighborhood services and Ward 3 for early and frequent community outreach.
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Discussion Regarding Future Agenda Items: Member Cherry asked if there is a public resource listing capital improvement projects in public right-of-way, especially in the Arts District. Tracy Reich noted that Public Works might have such information and offered to research adding it to the Economic and Urban Development site for marketing purposes.
Key Outcomes
- The minutes of the April 29, 2025 meeting were approved (one abstention).
- Staff will incorporate feedback on the VIP and TIP programs, particularly regarding multi-tenant buildings and the one-incentive-per-year limitation, and will bring revised proposals to a future meeting.
- The blight study for Redevelopment Area Three will proceed with enhanced public outreach.
- Staff will investigate providing accessible information on capital improvement projects and report back.
Meeting Transcript
Call to order roll call. Chair Doherty. Here. Vice Chair West. Excuse Member Cherry. Present. Member Schlottman. Present. Member Johnson. Excuse. Member Nelberg. Present. Member Riley. Present. Member Loden. Excuse Member Ortiz Thompson. Present. You have a quorum. Announcement regarding compliance with open meeting law. We are compliant. Public comment. Comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action. If you wish to be heard, come forward and give your name for the record. The amount of discussion as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed may be limited. For possible action to approve the final amendments by reference of the regular meeting of April 29th, 2025. I move to approve the minutes. Report by Tracy Reich, the redevelopment manager regarding redevelopment area. A vote has to be made on the item before you can move on to the next agenda item. Through the chair. Verbal aye. Abstain. Report by Tracy Reich, redevelopment manager regarding redevelopment area incentives. This afternoon, we're going to present an overview of our current incentives and the in preparation for updates to those, and then introducing a new incentive that we would like your input on. TIFF will trigger prevailing wage requirements. Offer the city to a way to attract new tourism projects by using the retail taxes generated by the project after completion as a financing incentive for the development. Area 15 is probably the best known of our TID projects. On the federal level, the city uses new market tax credits for qualified census tracts, as you can see from the slide. A typical project would be between six and twenty million and up to roughly 20% of the capital stacks. Loans are forgiven at the end of a seven-year compliance period. Opportunity zones 1.1.0 are reaching its conclusion, but the federal government just passed opportunity zones 2.0, which take effect in 2027. The city will nominate census tracts to the state. The state will nominate 25% of those nominated statewide to the federal government. This process will take place next year. These are similar to how 1.0 was established. There are several new restrictions on what a qualified census tract is, depending on area median income and location. They added a number of incentives for rural development this year. Opportunity zones can be used for a variety of eligible projects, mostly real estate development and significant rehabs, opening new businesses within an opportunity zone, acquiring an existing business and relocating it into an opportunity zone, and large expansions of businesses already located there. So what we're going to talk about today is the changes to the visual improvement program first. The manual when we're done with it may not just it currently lists every zoning code that's available, but by with the inclusion of all of the form-based codes, it may be easier to just list the non-eligible zoning codes. We took tattoo establishments off the ineligible list.
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