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Staying Alive Barfield project receives extension based on letter By Greg Rohloff Armed with a letter indicating that financing was at hand, Barfield Building developer Todd Harmon looked around the room as the TIRZ board prepared for a special meeting to consider whether the deadline for his building permit to remodel the Barfield would be extended. The letter from Wachovia Bank's Community Development Finance office in Addison, received earlier in the week, had been copied and distributed to board members before the meeting. And as Paul Harpole, vice chairman, counted board members to assure a quorum, Harmon smiled at the realization that the two members of the Amarillo Center City Tax Incentive Reinvestment Zone board who were most opposed to him at the previous board meeting — Amarillo Hospital District representative John Ben Blanchard and Panhandle Groundwater District representative John McKissack — were absent. Harpole ran the April 24 special meeting because Chairman Richard Brown was out of town. Harmon's smile remained as he explained that Wachovia's review committee would meet May 1 and present him a term sheet by May 8, allowing sufficient time to work out any issues that arise with the bank and to get any requested information, such as updated estimates from subcontractors. Wachovia representatives will be in Amarillo May 6. Harpole said he had talked with Omar Chaudhry, the Wachovia vice president who had signed Harmon's letter, and described Chaudhry as being favorable toward the project. Typically, Harpole said, construction can begin three to five weeks after a term sheet is accepted. Chaudhry also indicated interest in Wachovia's participation in other downtown Amarillo projects, he said. With that assurance, the board unanimously approved extending Harmon's deadline for obtaining a building permit to Aug. 4 from the original May 1 deadline. Once the loan agreement is settled, Harmon said construction should start in mid-July, and take no more than a year. Demolition work on the building's interior is about 60 percent complete and should take no more than 45 days to finish, he said. Wachovia's loan would be made through the federal Treasury Department's New Market Tax Credit program, which was created by the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The program provides an income tax credit equal to 39 percent of an investment in a low-income area, with the credit divided through a seven-year period. The investment in the Barfield Building, with Wachovia's loan, will be about $9.5 million, including purchase price, architectural costs and work already completed, Harmon said. What is expected is a $7.5 million loan plus a $1.6 million secondary, low-interest loan that essentially will be repaid with the program's tax credits, Harmon said. Additionally, the project qualifies for $1,345,000 in historic renovation tax credits. E-mail
comments about this story Posted: May 1, 2008
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