The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission recommended Wednesday up to $4.9 million in grants for an apartment development in the Brooklyn neighborhood in the downtown area.

The grants would be paid out over 20 years by reducing the amount of city property taxes paid on the value of the new buildings by 75 percent each year.

Other taxing entities such as the school district would still receive the full value of taxes on the
apartments.

The 20-year payout of grants exceeds the 10-year limit for residential development in the city’s financial incentive policy that dates back to 2006. The city would waive that provision of the policy.

JEDC Acting Director Paul Crawford said the economy, which was booming in 2006, has changed since then and the incentives reflect that.

Hallmark Partners plans to spend $30 million to build 285 apartment units along with a two-story parking garage and 16,500 square feet of retail. The average rent of the apartment will be $1,200.

Crawford said the Riverside neighborhood has had great success attracting residents. Brooklyn, located between Riverside and downtown, would continue that housing trend and ultimately make the downtown core more attractive for residential redevelopment, he said.

“It’s a stepping stone on the way to the core,” Crawford said.

The property tax abatements are a new wrinkle in an agreement the city first struck with Hallmark in 2007 to develop the Brooklyn neighborhood, located along Riverside Avenue between downtown and Forest Street.

The city previously agreed to spend up to $12.5 million to upgrade drainage, utilities and streets in Brooklyn, which is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. The city has spent about $5.4 million so far, mainly for construction of a large cement-walled drainage pond handling water runoff from the entire neighborhood.