A nearly $60 million plan to revive the old Antioch Shopping Center in the Northland moved ahead Thursday, as the city council approved a deal to partner with developers.
When it opened in 1956, the Antioch Center even drew shoppers from far south of the River. But that was 56 years ago, and in recent years, as First District Councilman Dick Davis put it, ”The old Antioch Shopping Center has been an embarrassment to our district, been in a bad state of repairs. We had a developer that was planning to do something with it, and nothing happened and it continued to deteriorate. We were fortunate to find a new developer that's just done an outstanding job of working with the community in finding a plan that does work.”
The plan involves tax increment financing, including Super-TIF for the shopping center itself. That's a plan where new sales and earnings tax revenues from the project can be pumped back into paying for the development, not just property tax gains as with a regular TIF.
On the brighter side, the new plan involves a smaller city commitment than what was endorsed by the previous council.