Jill Schramm/MDN Signs of construction remain around The Mavericks building, part of The Tracks project in southwest Minot.

An EPIC Companies project in southwest Minot has stalled and defaulted on its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) incentive agreement, according to the City of Minot. The Minot City Council will consider a course of action on the default at its meeting Monday, Nov. 17.

Background information from the city states a TIF agreement was entered with Henry Land Holdings and The Tracks-Maverick, LLC, in January 2023, related to the development of The Tracks project on 37th Avenue Southwest, north of the Trinity Health medical complex.

The project was to include multi-use buildings and public improvements, including two public plazas, a parking garage and other public amenities. Ground was broken in the fall of 2022 on the Maverick building, which the city reports has been constructed.

EPIC Companies formally announced plans to construct a mixed-use development with public plazas for community programming in October 2021. The development was to include seven mixed-use buildings with both commercial and residential space and an outdoor, artificial ice hockey rink, green space, a water feature, walking paths, small stage, underground parking for tenants and space for programmable community activities, according to an Oct. 23, 2021, article in The Minot Daily News.

In February 2022, the Minot Planning Commission approved the nearly 16-acre project. Among possible public features mentioned at that time included a video board for community announcements, transit bus shelter, ice rink and outdoor concert venue with covered stage.

The TIF program was designed to help finance the public-related improvements. A TIF is the difference on taxes collected post-construction versus pre-construction, with that difference invested into the project through bond payments.

On Monday, the council will consider drafting and delivering a notice of default to the developers. If not corrected within 30 days, the city could begin recovering the tax incentive, estimated at about $350,000, for the previous two years. The council also could hold off on action to see if any successor developers continue with the project.

The Tracks had been approved for a five-year, $2.88 million TIF for its first phase. Existing property taxes were to continue to be collected, but the additional taxes collected on the property improvements were to go toward the project development for five years. Specifically, the collected taxes would go to public amenities associated with a plaza, an estimated $3.2 million investment, according to the Jan. 4, 2023, issue of The Minot Daily News.

Ward County property tax records show taxes on The Tracks are paid and current.

EPIC previously used a five-year TIF for street improvements associated with Blu on Broadway. The residential and commercial project on South Broadway was completed in 2021. It came under new management last year after EPIC filed for bankruptcy.

The city and school district  also approved a 20-year TIF in association with EPIC’s Big M building redevelopment. The TIF provided that 90% of the additional taxes generated by improvements to the building would go to pay off city bonds of about $2.55 million used to abate asbestos. Ward County also approved a more limited incentive package with a value of $250,000.

That development also stalled, but the city has stated bonds are fully covered by property taxes on the building as long as taxes are paid. Ward County property tax information shows taxes are delinquent for the current year. The building was listed for sale earlier this year.