A breakdown of costs in Augusta’s Riverfront at the Depot project shows $14 million in city-serviced debt injected in the project’s first phase, estimated at $50 million, but it leaves financing details, including further taxpayer contributions, “to be determined” in the project’s second phase.

The Downtown Development Authority got commission approval in May 2016 to market a six-acre city tract at Sixth and Reynolds streets. Soon two sister companies, Birmingham, Ala.-based BLOC Global and retail recruiter Retail Strategies, were making plans to renovate the historic train depot there and add retail, apartments, parking and office space at a combined investment of $93 million.

City officials have complained they’ve yet to see a project budget, site plans and other critical documents, and they recently accused BLOC of missing contractual deadlines for providing them. Planning documents circulating among commissioners briefly detail the project’s timeline, scope and budget for each component. The deal has yet to be finalized, so any of its details could change.

According to the plans, Phase 1 is expected to be funded through $14 million in bonds issued by the downtown authority, $1.4 million from state and federal tax credits for historic preservation, and $35 million from the developer, including $28 million in debt and $7 million in equity sold to investors.

To be built with those funds are 140 apartments for $26 million, or around $188,000 per unit, plus 210 apartment parking spaces for $5.6 million in "Deck 1," a combined $13 million project and one of two parking garages mentioned in the proposal.

Phase 1 also includes renovating the depot, where 16,000 square feet will be up-fitted to house retail for $3 million. Another 5,000 feet of new retail space will be built for $1 million. Retail parking in Deck 1 will include $2.1 million for 80 depot spaces and $666,000 for the new retail’s 25 spaces.

The plan allots $4.7 million for 175 spaces in Deck 1 for the Unisys office complex next door, falling short of the 500-space mark the city promised Unisys at the site years ago. City officials and Unisys’ landlord, Discovery Plaza LLC, have complained about the parking shortage, which would likely add to the project budget if addressed, but the matter is not resolved.

Phase 1 also includes land acquisition, public space improvements and a $4 million contingency, ringing in at just under $50 million.

In the deal’s proposed financing structure, the Phase 1 bonds backed by the city government will require an estimated annual payment of $941,019 by the city to service the debt, with the city promising a quarter-mill in taxes or about $1 million to cover it, up to the state maximum of three mills. Interest on the bonds brings the city’s total contribution to nearly $18 million.

In Phase 2, the lack of detail continues to lead at least one commissioner to question the project altogether. While Phase 1 has a specified funding stream in the bond issue, planning documents for Phase 2 state the level of public support and developer equity and debt as “to be determined.”

“I think at the end of the day for us to give away a $14 million grant for what has become a $50 million project is a disservice to this community because Phase 2 has not been guaranteed,” Commissioner Ben Hasan said.

The plans do outline how Phase 2’s proposed investment of $44 million will break down. The second phase includes a $29 million, 100,000-square-foot office building; 327 parking spaces in “Deck 2” for $8.7 million; 25 additional Deck 1 retail parking spaces for $666,500; and a $3.6 million contingency.

Support for the project has remained mixed on the commission since the deadline issues arose. Mayor Pro Tem Sean Frantom remains an ardent supporter.

Commissioner John Clarke said he had no evidence the city would wind up paying $18 million toward a $50 million private investment.

“I have not seen anything other than they keep saying it’s on track,” Clarke said. “I personally have not seen anything to indicate it is or it isn’t.”

Commissioner Dennis Williams said that he wasn’t invited to a meeting Friday about the project that included Frantom and Hasan and that he continues to be omitted from discussions.

“There are a whole lot of sidebar meetings going on,” he said.

Yet to be addressed is the Unisys parking issue and the developer’s difficulty in securing financing, Williams said.

Williams said he’ll rely on recommendations from city staff and information presented to the commission as a whole to make his final decisions about what initially seemed to be a huge boon for downtown.

“It’s a great idea, a great project, but what about the money?" he said. "Is the city going to be stuck holding the bill?”