Columbia’s TIF commission turns down Broadway Hotel application

On Monday, Columbia’s tax increment financing district, or TIF commission turned down the Broadway Hotel’s application for some help. That recommendation will now go to the city council.

The 8-3 vote means the commission recommends the council reject the Broadway Hotel’s bid for a TIF.

The TIF would have allowed the hotel developers keep the difference of any new property and sales tax generated from turning the old building there into a new hotel tower.

Commissioners said they weren’t convinced that property needed a tax discount in order for future development.

The building is currently leased by the Broadway Hotel, but hotel owner David Parmley and attorney Robert Hollis said it’s not used. The building has been vacant for more than 35 years, Hollis said, which is necessary for a redevelopment project to obtain tax increment financing.

Parmley and his attorney said the place poses a public health risk, since it’s hard for cars to see pedestrians as they leave the parking lot there on Walnut Street.

Boone County Assessor Tom Schauwecker came out to the meeting Monday. He said the place could be developed if given a chance due to the rising value and desirability of land downtown.

The Broadway Hotel was built with the help of a TIF, which got unanimous support several years ago. Parmley said he was surprised about the pushback for this project.

“The documentation and the format was exactly the same as the previous time,” Parmley told ABC 17 News. “There just seemed to be a different level of scrutiny, maybe. I’m not sure why. Not that it’s necessarily bad. It was just different, I guess.”