When landowners within Avon's new Downtown Development Authority voted in favor of its formation in 2023, they may have also begun inadvertently nudging the local Salvation Army out of the way.

The Downtown Development Authority is a tax increment financing district where any increase in taxes collected in the district due to the assessed value of properties going up creates a revenue source that goes directly to the authority.

The potential for the most dramatic increase in those assessed property values comes from the development of vacant land, or the redevelopment of blighted properties within the authority, which is why tax increment financing districts are often accused of causing the gentrification of urban areas.

But in Avon's case, the authority plans to use half of the tax increment financing revenue to create a funding mechanism for the development of worker housing.

Mayor Amy Phillips described the authority's formation as "a critical and visionary step" for funding more community housing in Avon.

"The businesses that serve the Avon community desperately need more workforce housing and the town of Avon needs more housing for the members of our community that are struggling," Phillips said in endorsing the effort.

The tax increment financing district includes the Salvation Army site, which is owned by Traer Creek LLC, a family-owned land investment company that has been slowly building out the Village (at Avon) planned unit development since the late '90s.

Michael Lindholm with Traer Creek said once the new Downtown Development Authority was created, his family's land investment company began seeing a renewed enthusiasm from the town to see through the development plans for areas within the authority boundaries as a way to create a flow of tax increment financing revenue into the authority.

Avon Town Manager Eric Heil said the town has always supported the development of the Village (at Avon), including the Salvation Army site, ever since the land was annexed into the town in 1998.

"The development agreement was revised in 2012 to prioritize investment in required public infrastructure to support development of the valley floor area of the Village (at Avon)," Heil said. "Portions of East Beaver Creek Boulevard are falling apart and should be replaced with a permanent new road that will serve new development projects as soon as possible. The Town of Avon strongly values the Salvation Army and hopes they will find an appropriate location to continue its operations as soon as possible."

Lindholm said his company started talking to the Salvation Army about moving in April, and the property was recently put under contract for sale, creating a more urgent need for the nonprofit to move. The site is zoned for mixed use, which can include residential rental or sale units, or commercial retail or office use.

Lindholm said he and his family are big believers in the importance of the Salvation Army's services, which is why they've been supporting the nonprofit over the last 13 years by providing the space rent-free.

Now that the Salvation Army has to move to make way for the new development, "we want to continue to support them, just in a different way," Lindholm said. "If they have to move into an office space, we're willing to move everything for them and even contribute to paying for the office space they would need to run the operation."