By HOI ABC

NORMAL – The Normal Town Council has taken the first step toward reviving plans to redevelop a large part of Uptown Normal even as one council member said the town appears to be setting the wrong priorities.

The council voted 6-1, with Stan Nord voting no, for a memorandum of understanding to work with Cedar Falls-based Eagle View Partners. The company plans to invest up to $60 million to build multi-story residential, retail and commercial use buildings known as Trail East and Trail West. The development would add almost 200,000 square feet of space, including 150 apartments to help ease a housing shortage.

Monday night’s vote sets the stage for talks between the town government and the Eagle View about the projects’ design and tax breaks. The council could vote late this summer on a redevelopment agreement, said City Manager Pam Reece.

Questioned by Nord, Eagle View Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Mark Kittrell said tax incentives are necessary to make the projects profitable, and Kittrell hopes government contribution could cover about 30% of total construction costs.

Kittrell said rents for studio apartments could run as high as $1,300 a month, single-bedroom apartments could cost up to $1,600, and two-bedroom units could go for up to $2,500.

Nord said the government should not be subsidizing luxury apartments.

“I can’t look a homeless person in the eye and say, ‘hey, I just voted to give 30% of a $50 million project to build luxury apartments, but you’re living in a tent.”

Last September, another developer scrapped plans for building Trail East.

Council member Kevin McCarthy says the new developer has a better plan.

“Call it providence or just dumb luck, I think we’ve got a better project given the time in our economy and what’s happening in our community,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy and the City Manager Reece noted the redevelopment project would boost taxable property values in places that are not generating a lot of tax revenue.