Developers who want to build a 32-story, two-tower condo development along the eastern outskirts of downtown Fort Myers received another setback this week.
City council members, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners, turned down the request by Doral-based Jaxi Builders to amend an agreement that would have given $15.1 million in tax incentives.
Commissioners tied 3-3 on a motion that would have given Jaxi seven years to build the second tower or else return $6.5 million to the city. Commissioner Kevin Anderson, Darla Bonk and Teresa Watkins Brown voted no. Liston Bochette, Fred Burson and Terolyn Watson voted in favor.
Commissioner Diana Giraldo was absent but said in a statement that she was against the request.
The CRA approved giving Jaxi $15.1 million in tax increment financing in 2015 for condos known as Allure. The agreement was for Jaxi to receive $8.5 million for the first tower and $6.5 million for the second.
The tax increment is the difference from what the tax collection was when the project started and the increase in property values after the project is built.
The project never moved forward, and attorney Megan Strayhorn told commissioners it won’t be able to be built without the CRA giving Jaxi the entire amount for tower one.
“The costs of construction have increased so dramatically from 2015 until today that the cost of the entire development is now what the cost is for just tower one,” she said.
The CRA would receive about $100,000 a year in taxes if the project is built, Strayhorn said.
CRA attorney Clifford Shepard was adamant that Jaxi shouldn’t receive the tax break.
The CRA would be getting one tower for the price of two, he said.
“If you think that tower two will get built after you put all of the money on tower one the chances of that are slim and none and slim just left town,” Shepard said.
He also said the amendment wasn’t legal because it doesn’t comply with a redevelopment trust fund statute that was changed in 2019. Strayhorn argued that the 2015 agreement did fit the statute.
Asked if the developer could sue if the CRA voted no, Shepard said they could, but they would lose.
“And that’s not me braggadocio,” he said. “That’s a guarantee.”
Commissioner Burson wanted to know what guarantee the CRA had that the second tower would be built.
“If we successfully build tower one we have a better chance that tower two will happen,” said Edwardo Caballero, owner of Jaxi. “It’s a ladder. You need to step up one-by-one.”
Burson made a motion that the developer give back the $6.5 million if the second tower isn’t finished seven years after the first one is finished. Caballero agreed to the deal, but it failed.
“We certainly will go back to the drawing board and see and be in contact with Mr. Shepard,” Strayhorn said.
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