MONROE — Members of the city Finance and Taxation Committee approved a request from Kran Enterprises LLC for $8,000 in tax increment funding to be distributed after the construction of a six-unit apartment building a block west of the Square. 

Longtime real estate developer Rick Maliszewski has plans for the empty parking lot at 10th Street and 15th Avenue in Monroe. He informed the four-person committee Tuesday that he hopes to begin excavation by the end of the year for a roughly 9,000 square-foot apartment building on the space. He said it would require roughly $150,000 per unit to develop.

Maliszewski noted at the podium that he has been attempting to make the proposal suitably profitable for years, but has not yet been able to do so due to the rents in Monroe “hovering too low.” For this reason, he was asking for funding based on the financial success of the taxable property through tax increment financing. 

The method of a Pay-Go Tax Increment District calls for a development without the aid of TID funding upfront. Instead, TIF revenues are given to developers after the business is established. Maliszewski asked for $8,000 in this type of incentive funding.

City Administrator Phil Rath said the request could be managed by TID funds over seven years, between 2020 and 2027. He noted TID 7, which encompasses all of downtown Monroe and other nearby areas, is not scheduled for closure until around 2035. He added that without the assistance of funding promised at the end of the project, it likely would not be done with the same speed or in the same manner, “if at all.”

The committee approved the funding request. The development agreement still needs to be approved by Monroe Common Council. City Clerk Arianna Voegeli said the matter would be an agenda item during one of the council’s two meetings this month, but due to timing restrictions, she was unsure which agenda it would be on. 

Committee member Brooke Bauman said a goal identified in the 2015 Comprehensive Plan was to establish dense housing, which the project helps meet. She added that it would be good use of an empty space.

Maliszewski said he feels though past plans have not identified the project with suitable cash flow, the location of the building, which would be near the Square, the Monroe Public Library and other downtown businesses may bolster interest from prospective tenants. Especially young professionals, he said.