Like shopping centers before it, the planned retail center at Genshaft Park may be developed in part through Tax Incremental Financing, or a TIF. When Massillon Marketplace, which features Wal-Mart and Lowes, was built the city granted developers a TIF. The money that has been collected is now being used to repair the Erie Street bridge near the Marketplace. A TIF uses future real estate tax revenue to finance improvements needed to make such revenue possible. Mayor Frank Cicchinelli said Tuesday he has been discussing a TIF with Cleveland-based Visconsi Companies. Cicchinelli hopes to close the $3.4 million sale of the 17-acre Genshaft Park in September, allowing Visconsi to build a Kohl’s department store on the land. Kohl’s would be the anchor tenant to other, smaller stores. A TIF was also applied to the Meadows Plaza shopping center on Lincoln Way. “They can be framed in many different ways,” Cicchinelli said about the TIF. ...
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