The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met on Tuesday morning and approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Jeff Evers and the Fournet building and they also approved putting a house on a Carmen View Estates lot on the south side of Crookston. 
The approval of TIF for the Fournet Building (pictured right) will hopefully spur development of the aging building. Evers purchased the property for $75,000 in February 2017 and the interior and roof needs significant work. There are plans for Tri-Valley Opportunity Council to move from their current location to the Fournet Building (which is across the street) second floor. “Jeff Evers put in an application for a TIF and the CHEDA Board considered an establishment of a redevelopment TIF District for the Fournet Building,” said CHEDA Executive Director Craig Hoiseth. “A TIF freezes the taxes where they are currently and over a set period of time, as the building gets invested in the property tax valuation will go up and as the taxes rise the city continues to bring in the original tax revenues, but those additional revenues are poured back into servicing the debt of the project.”
The CHEDA board approved a 20 year or $208,000 TIF district for Evers, which is the max. Once one of the limits (20 years or $208,000 in total taxes) is reached it will expire and the full taxes will go on the tax roll. The current taxes on the building are $3,124 with the estimated land market value at $20,100 and the estimated building market value at $110,300. “It really doesn’t cost the city anything,” said Hoiseth. “All it does, it says we are currently at X and they are going to do a lot of investment, in this case over $1 million in investment, and we aren’t going to raise the property tax value on him until the TIF District is over and all the money will flow into the city.”
Hoiseth added that the area is a redevelopment district and is commercial and could help with the development in downtown Crookston.
The other topic of discussion was the building of a new home on a lot in the Carmen View Estates on the south side of Crookston. In early 2017, the communities of East Grand Forks, Crookston, Red Lake Falls, and Warren gathered at Minnesota Housing Partnership’s Housing Institute with the intentions of learning more about the subject of housing and how to address the shortage within their communities. For year one, the group proposes to build three homes, one apiece in Crookston, Red Lake Falls, and Warren at a final cost of $180,000 per home. East Grand Forks opted out of year one until they can secure an appropriate lot. Each community needs to invest $50,000. “We are looking at putting a house into the Kevin Ross development at Carmen View Estates and today the board appropriated dollars to go towards that consortium, up to $50,000,” said Hoiseth. “We are going to partner with Kevin, perhaps the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and another partner in Northwest Multi-County Housing.”
With the CHEDA board approving both topics, it was a good day for more development in Crookston. “It was a great day and my compliments to the board seeing their vision, understanding what it takes to these heavy lifts for Crookston and our future,” said Hoiseth.
KROX asked Hoiseth about the former Arby’s property and we asked what he could tell us. “It is for sale,” said Hoiseth with a smile. “The realtor and I have been in discussions about it and there have been some interesting opportunities that might be for that corner, but I will delay comment on that for now.”
When asked how development is going in Crookston, Hoiseth responded, “I think Crookston is a very robust market now. The Ag market and how it rolls is kind of how Crookston rolls, but with that said we are seeing a lot of people kicking tires and investment dollars to Crookston and we have some pretty exciting things on the horizon.”
