Northfield City Council Approves Hotel

A new Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites in Northfield became a step closer to reality Tuesday after it cleared another hurdle with the Northfield City Council. They approved the contract for private development and the issuance of the taxable increment revenue note.

The hotel is scheduled to have 80 rooms and will be at the intersection of Second Street West and Highway 3.

According to the Northfield News, the $13.2 million project, which has been a discussion topic of city meetings for months, is scheduled to start construction in September of this year.

City staff recommended on Tuesday to use $150,000 from the tax increment financing that has been retained for administrative purposes from the Riverfront Redevelopment TIF District, and $100,000 from the Capital Project Fund, according to Community Development Director Chris Heineman.

It was also requested that the Economic Development Authority's revolving loan would be increased to $250,000.

The city is also providing a pay-as-you-go TIF (Tax Increment Financing) note in the principal amount of $987,000. The TIF note will be payable solely from 95 percent of the tax increments derived from lots 4, 5 and 6, and will carry interest at the rate of 4.5 percent. This proposal gives the developer the ability to be reimbursed up to the $987,000 for upfront costs and the tax increment would be collected from the property taxes gathered on future improvements.