Yorkville ready to extend home-buyer incentive
By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com July 12, 2012 5:56PM
Updated: August 14, 2012 6:34AM
YORKVILLE – The city and local builders will continue to offer a $10,000 incentive to anyone who wants to build a new house here.
Aldermen support extending the BUILD program, which offers the incentive, through June 2013. They will take a formal vote on the extension July 24, but a consensus of the City Council this week said they would approve it.
The BUILD program began this year with the city setting aside a maximum of 30 building permits for it.
Under the program, the city agrees to rebate back a portion of the building permit fee up to $5,000, and the builder agrees to match the $5,000 in payment to the homebuyer. The agreement is made at the time the building permit is issued; developers are not allowed to build spec houses as part of the program.
The homebuyer gets the $10,000 check at the time the occupancy permit is issued.
As of this week, the city had issued 24 of the allowable 30 permits for this year, with two more in the works, according to Krysti Barksdale-Noble, community development director.
Noble said city officials still are awaiting results of a BUILD survey of each homebuyer, but said BUILD has resulted in more permits this year than all of last year. She also said the program has brought in an estimated $200,000 to the city, not to mention building jobs. The program also is working to fill in lots already platted in the city but not built on.
Noble said that between 13 or 14 of the permits were pulled by Pulte, developers of several subdivisions in the city, including the unfinished Bristol Bay. The other permits were pulled by smaller, custom builders.
Alderman Larry Kot, 2nd Ward, called the program a “win-win situation.” He said in addition to the money, jobs and new residents, the program also has given the city “positive publicity.”
“It says we’re a progressive city, that we’re not just sitting back and waiting for the market to change,” he said.
Michael Hamilton, representing Pulte, told aldermen “the program has worked.”
“We’ve had people who were considering other communities come to Yorkville,” he said.
