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The Tuscany Village site sits empty Friday afternoon as traffic passes by on Interstate 29. It’s been three years since the project was approved for a TIF.

It’s been three years since Tuscany Village received tax-increment fund approval, and there is still no word of possible store construction.

“It’s obvious to anyone who drives by (Tuscany) that there isn’t anything going on there,” said Mike Hirter, a St. Joseph City Council member.

Although he was not on the council when it approved the TIF for Tuscany in September 2005, he has followed the project, located at Interstate 29 and North U.S. 169 Highway.

“It’s no surprise given the recent economic environment that it’s a difficult task at this point,” said Russ Ehnan, the architect for the Tuscany project. Mr. Ehnan contends the project has not been forgotten and that JSC Development is working diligently with brokers to bring in tenants.

JSC investors Scott Hausman and John Rowe are required to update the council regularly, according to Clint Thompson, city director of planning and community development. Mr. Thompson said the developers are expected to be in front of the council before the end of the year.

“They are trying to work with a potential new party to come in and be a partner on the deal,” he said.

But the project isn’t costing the taxpayers a dime, yet. “They’ve never collected a penny in revenue and won’t until such time that they begin to generate money,” Mr. Hirter said. “A lot of people don’t know that.”

Until tenants open for business and can bring in revenues, no tax dollars are rolled out.

“(The project) is totally tenant driven,” Mr. Ehnan said. “There’s a certain amount of square footage to tip the scale to proceed. A couple of times we got relatively close, but we’ve had to take a step back with the economy.”

Mr. Thompson said the city has always felt Tuscany Village was a good project for St. Joseph.

“I’ve always thought Tuscany complemented The Shoppes,” he said. “There is still that sales tax leakage to the Kansas City area. Retail there is still exploding. We have to be competitive with other communities.”

Mr. Ehnan said that it’s troubling to see Tuscany compared to other developments in St. Joseph. There are big differences, especially in the costs associated with the infrastructure, he said.

“Tuscany’s challenges are extremely high financially, and that’s why it seems to drag,” Mr. Ehnan said. “It’s pretty staggering.”

Infrastructure, while a blessing to the city, has been a curse for the developers. Mr. Thompson said that the project could continue to have difficult times ahead without incentives to help financially with infrastructure issues.

“(The project) provided much-needed infrastructure for that portion of the community, especially sewer,” he said. Mr. Thompson said he felt that the current City Council might be willing to step in if needed.

In its infancy, JSC said it was negotiating with UMB Bank. Then there was an announcement that J.C. Penney was considering leaving the East Hills Shopping Center for a stand-alone location at Tuscany. That discussion went straight to City Council meetings.

Mr. Hirter said that vote was the last action to his knowledge that has taken place involving the development. City officials had expressed great concern over existing businesses simply relocating to Tuscany, leaving other shopping centers, such as the mall, at the short end of the stick. But the mall decided to spend millions renovating its entity, which left the retail giant staying put. It also received a TIF.

Fellow City Council member Barbara LaBass said she has never been in favor of TIFs. Ms. LaBass wasn’t on the council when Tuscany sought its TIF.

She said she feels that developers should’ve looked over the property and prepared for the amount of expenses.

“We have to sit back and be patient and see what the economy is going to do now,” she said.

Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.