Whitmire wants Montrose TIRZ to pay $11.5M for renovation of library outside of the zone

At a recent city budget hearing, the Houston Public Library’s interim executive director said the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone was stepping up to help fund renovations to the deteriorating Freed Library.

Montrose TIRZ board members this week expressed doubts about the $11.5 million plan, noting the library is not even inside the special taxing district.

The library, just north of the intersection of Montrose Boulevard and Richmond Avenue, is located within the Midtown TIRZ.

The Montrose TIRZ still could approve the funding for the library renovations, but at least two board members this week expressed reservations about moving money from other projects to cover the upgrades when the city already had funded another plan for a new library on Westheimer Road.

“I am deeply concerned about the impact of this $11.5 million,” board member Lisa Hunt said. “Mayors come and mayors go, and citizens and homeowners remain. While I recognize the political components of these decisions, I just want to recognize that we are a community, and I want our money to be able to support our community.”

The Montrose TIRZ is one of many such special taxing districts that dot the city. Their goal is to collect property taxes above a designated baseline number that can be dedicated toward specific infrastructure projects within the districts’ boundaries.

Aside from the library project, Mayor John Whitmire has been at odds with the district over a plan to remake Montrose Boulevard. Board members did not indicate Wednesday that funding the library project would affect the Montrose Boulevard plan.

Hunt acknowledged that if Whitmire is intent upon using funds from the tax reinvestment zone, he likely could do so. TIRZ budgets and plans must be approved by the City Council , where the mayor wields great influence under Houston’s strong-mayor form of government. The discussion at the board meeting, however, revealed community divisions about Whitmire’s surprise announcement that he wants to keep the library in its original home.

Even as the city advances on the Montrose library renovation, it is pausing construction on the new North Regional Library in Acres Home — only months after its groundbreaking — freeing up more funding for the work in Montrose.

Location, location

The existing Montrose library’s location inside the nearby Midtown TIRZ adds another twist to a saga that has seen plenty over the past three months.

In March, the Houston Landing published an investigation into poor conditions at the historic building. One day later, Houston Public Library leaders surprised the mayor and City Council by announcing the building’s permanent closure , which later was walked back to a temporary closure.

The library since has reopened. During a news conference about the city’s budget, Whitmire said he would block the planned relocation of the library to the Montrose Collective on Westheimer, which he said would position it “very close to adult entertainment, on the third story of a commercial building, behind the hamburger building.”

The announcement surprised City Council and the developer of the new location , where the city already had invested a significant chunk of money.

The city’s plan for funding the pricey rehabilitation of the existing library was to tap the coffers of the Montrose TIRZ, which also pays for a wide range of street and drainage improvements in the Inner Loop neighborhood.

Montrose TIRZ officials said some of them had discovered the Freed-Montrose Library actually was in the Midtown TIRZ only hours before their Wednesday board meeting.

Officials do not yet know what that could mean for the tax reinvestment zone’s budget.

“The city will need to give us some guidance whether it’s Midtown or us, to tell you the truth,” Board Chairman Joe Webb said during Wednesday’s meeting.

Representatives from the Montrose TIRZ declined an interview request.

“An interview at this instance is premature,” Webb said in a statement. “As we noted previously, we have been in contact with the Mayor’s office about the proposed library efforts and await their guidance regarding certain administrative procedures that need to occur prior to our moving forward.”

Budget implications

The fast-changing plans could have a wide ripple of budget implications, affecting future library projects, as well as long-laid plans for the Montrose TIRZ.

Though the district is using the $11.5 million as a placeholder in its budget, the city has provided the board with three cost estimates, according to Alia Vinson, an attorney that represents the TIRZ. Those include $5.1 million to address “life safety issues;” $11.5 million, which would include upgrading the entire building; and an all-inclusive $14.5 million cost, which includes interior remodeling.

The difference, according to Whitmire spokeswoman Mary Benton, is likely to come from pausing construction at the new $19 million North Regional Library — a pet project of former Mayor Sylvester Turner, who dug a ceremonial shovel into the ground at the library’s South Victory Drive site just six months ago.

“Some funds for this project have been expanded for land acquisition,” Benton said Thursday evening. “However, the project requires an additional $10 million to cover the scope of work.”

The Houston Public Library has decided to pause the new library, freeing up $6 million for a variety of other projects across the library system, as well as up to $10 million that could be used in Montrose, according to Benton.

The library’s renovation requires a host of improvements, which include a new elevator, foundation, full bathroom renovation, exhaust system, fire alarm and exterior work, Benton said. City officials, she said, estimate the design, permitting and bidding will take between a year and 14 months; the actual renovations likely will take another nine months.

During Wednesday’s board meeting, Montrose TIRZ officials said the board would have to “zero out” planned projects including multi-million dollar safe street initiatives on West Dallas, Welch and Mandell Streets that include new sidewalks and bike lanes.