In its first phase, Catalyst is planning 264 dwelling units and an array of restaurant and retail offerings, followed quickly by a second phase in 2018 with a 12-story full-service hotel at the site of the current fire tower, which will be razed. It also includes a destination indoor-outdoor restaurant between the farmers market and an existing water feature on the riverwalk.

A third phase would include more restaurants and active public spaces.

Paris Rutherford, principal of Catalyst, said he has all the financing lined up for the project and will be ready to go as soon as the site is clean.

“We’re swinging for the fences here,” Rutherford said on a tour of the property Friday morning with the TIF board. “We’re not trying to hit a single. But we’re also trying to do something that can get done.”

He said the development should have ripple effects throughout downtown.

“I see this as a neighborhood of downtown,” Rutherford said. “The area around the (Magnolia) silos is another neighborhood. Webster Avenue connects both of those, but the only way to make that work is if the public improvements are high-quality.”