Last modified: Friday, July 3, 2009 11:22 AM CDT

Backers still confident in downtown

By JIM GAINES, The Daily News, jgaines@bgdailynews.com/783-3242

Details of how recent legislation will affect Bowling Green’s downtown redevelopment are still unknown, but its backers are sure the project will see substantial financial benefit, offsetting their inability to sell project bonds.

The 383-acre redevelopment area includes a number of big construction projects that were to be paid for with more than $100 million in public bonds, backed by expected tax revenues from the redeveloped area; but the nationwide recession drove the bond market down, making it impossible to sell the bonds at a reasonable rate. That left project backers casting around for new ways to get construction going, and reach a threshold of $200 million investment in the area within the next few years. If that wasn’t reached, millions in state tax money needed to repay the bonds wouldn’t be released.

The recently concluded special session of the General Assembly eased two of those problems. Among many other, unrelated provisions, House Bill 3 lowered the threshold to $150 million.

“We’re just really pleased with the legislation,” said Mary Cohron, chairwoman of the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority, the nonprofit corporation created to oversee redevelopment. “Fifty million dollars is a lot of money.”

Even more important at the moment, the bill also provided for establishment of a state loan pool for Bowling Green’s and four similar redevelopment districts.

Loans from that pool would, at least temporarily, replace the construction bond issues.

“It’s basically for public infrastructure: anything that would be used by the public, such as streets, sidewalks, utility connections,” said State Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green. “At least this is what the original thinking was. Once the rules are promulgated, some of the details may change.”

The Cabinet for Economic Development is expected to write the rules and oversee the loan program. That’s likely to take several months, Cohron said.

She and attorneys for the redevelopment project are spending this weekend seeing how the plan can benefit local projects, she said.

Richards said he has no idea what amount of money may be available, though he asked the Legislative Research Commission.

“I even called the economic development cabinet, and they didn’t have any further details beyond what I got through LRC,” he said.

The initial idea is to use state loans only for public-use areas - “not a building or anything inside a building,” Richards said. That may send some money to aid in preparation for the parking garages planned downtown, and the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, which is expected to have a large outside plaza, he said.

“I think you’re talking about quite a bit of money,” Richards said.

Cohron said even if the loans are limited to public infrastructure, that will help substantially, because that work also was planned to be paid for with bonds that now can’t be sold.

“We need that, too,” she said.