At its meeting on Thursday, July 14, the Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission heard a request from Jeff Dyson, second from the right, one of the operators of South Shore Ventures LLC, regarding creating a tax increment financing district. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — A new tax increment financing district may be formed at the site of new development at a former golf course in Syracuse.

At its meeting on Thursday, July 14, the Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission approved beginning the process of laying the groundwork to create a TIF district at the site of the former South Shore golf course.

The purpose of such a district would be to capture new property taxes within the district and use that money to assist with the development at the former golf course.

At the meeting, Jeff Dyson said he and his business partner Nathan Scherer are working to develop the area for residential and commercial use through South Shore Ventures LLC. Helping make the request for a TIF district was Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. CEO Alan Tio.

Dyson provided more details on what he and Scherer hope to accomplish with the development.

“My business partner and I decided that we wanted to put South Shore together as a community project to benefit the community as a whole,” said Dyson. “The MO behind the whole thing is live, work, play. We wanted to create an opportunity for housing because there is a huge housing need in the community, like Alan said between single-family homes, apartments, whether it be multi-family.”

“We also have a need for integrating the youth, so we have dedicated 20 acres of the overall property to Lakeland Youth Center. They’re going to be working with Boys and Girls Club to also create a facility for after-school activities and youth activities on the property,” continued Dyson. “We’re also integrating other parts of the community such as WACF (Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation) … walking trails and have beautification throughout the property.”

“And the final aspect of it is the commercial aspect where we can incorporate whether it’s boutique shopping, whether it’s professional services,” said Dyson. “Those are still yet to be seen through whether it’s developers or other people that have shared vision for the overall property.”

No long-term decisions were made Thursday.

The commission’s next meeting is 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Kosciusko County Courthouse’s Old Courtroom.