Consultant: New Infrastructure District Could Yield Up to $326.7 Million for 710 Stub Area

A proposed financing district covering roughly 551 acres in Pasadena could generate up to $326.7 million in present-value revenue over 50 years, according to scenarios prepared for the board that would oversee it.

Kosmont Companies prepared the introductory presentation for the Pasadena Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District Public Finance Authority.

The mechanism is tax increment financing, which the presentation describes as not a new tax. Property tax on existing value would keep flowing to the General Fund, while a share of the tax on new value created by development and rehabilitation would be routed to the district, in a pattern the presentation describes as illustrative. The board’s action Friday would be to direct preparation of a draft Infrastructure Financing Plan, which would then require separate City Council and County Board of Supervisors approval, with completion targeted for December 2026 or January 2027.

The draft terms contemplate the City committing 25 percent to 50 percent of that future increment within the boundary for about 50 years, matched dollar-for-dollar by the County and equivalent to roughly 24 percent to 48 percent of the County’s own increment. In both cases the remaining portion would flow to the General Fund. Kosmont Financial Services, a registered municipal advisor, modeled three scenarios. With the City at 25 percent and the County matching at 24 percent of its share, the presentation projects $163,328,000 in 50-year present value at a 3 percent discount rate. At 50 percent and 48 percent of the County’s share, it projects $326,657,000.

The draft boundary takes in the 710 Vision Plan area plus surrounding parcels and the Lincoln Avenue, Fair Oaks/Orange Grove and North Lake Avenue Specific Plan areas — about 3.7 percent of the city, holding $1.31 billion in existing assessed value, according to Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller figures cited in the presentation. Money could go toward mobility and utility infrastructure, multimodal improvements, sustainable water features, clean energy and renewables, affordable housing, and public and open space.

The presentation projects more than 3,500 housing units, including a significant number of affordable units, plus 27,800 temporary construction-related job-years and 3,400 permanent jobs. The City Council adopted a Resolution of Intention to form the district on June 15; the County Board of Supervisors adopted its own to participate on July 14.

A draft plan would be distributed in September to property owners, affected taxing entities, the City Council, the County Board of Supervisors and the planning commission, and presented at a public meeting Oct. 23. A first public hearing to take comments and act to modify or reject the plan would follow Dec. 18, and a second, on Jan. 29, 2027, would weigh protests and could either terminate proceedings or adopt the plan and form the district.

The Pasadena Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District Public Finance Authority is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, in the Council Chamber, Room S249, at Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena.

For more information call (626) 744-4124 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.