URBANA – Urbana City Officials say since its introduction the Think Urbana tax incentive program for new home construction has gained significant momentum in its first year.
Mayor Laurel Prussing says the program has helped to rejuvenate new housing construction in the city, with new housing starts nearly doubling to 42 in 2016 from 23 in 2015. Prussing explains that developers have really appreciated it and are responding in turn.
Think Urbana is geared toward lowering the cost of new residential construction. Participants in the program can save 60-percent off property taxes on their new home in the first five years and pay no sales tax on construction materials purchased in Illinois.
Six different local taxing bodies agreed to abate those cumulative taxes. Participating tax districts include Urbana School District 116, the Urbana Park District, the City of Urbana, Champaign County government, the Mass Transit District and Cunningham Township, which together comprise over 90 percent of a city resident’s property tax bill.
In a release from the City of Urbana, South Ridge subdivision developer, Carl Hill, said the program has been a “life-saver” for his development efforts. In 2015, he says he saw only two new homes built, but since the program’s introduction, he saw five new single-family homes built last year, plus a two-unit townhome. Hill says he expects to see at least four more townhomes and five additional single-family homes under construction by this spring.
Also in Southeast Urbana, three new homes were completed in the Stone Creek golf course community in 2016, and work began on three additional new homes late last fall. Stone Creek lot sales in 2016 were double the normal rate, according to Spencer Atkins, Real Estate Manager at the Atkins Group.
“With Urbana’s commitment to the Think Urbana program, the City has become serious about new residential housing in our community, and it’s working,” Atkins says.
In addition to South Ridge and Stone Creek, two other established Urbana subdivisions have seen more growth.
Vic Armstrong, developer of Savannah Green in east Urbana, said he is considering building an additional 45 homes on lots remaining for sale due to Think Urbana.
The luxury subdivision Beringer Commons in east Urbana, near U.S. 150 and High Cross Road, has obtained city approval for 12 new lots, where owner Ivan Richardson plans to build a zero-lot-line model home and market the 11 other lots.
More information about Think Urbana can be found on its website.
