After the vote, Robert Preston, an attorney with Spencer Fane representing the developers, said the group had no immediate comment.

The TIF Commission is only a recommending body. Aldermen hold final say over whether TIF or other incentives will be granted, but attorneys for the city and developer said the TIF Commission still needed another vote to actually make a recommendation. Commissioners could hold another meeting on the project as soon as next week.

The developers want to buy the historic Beaux Arts structure built in 1911 from the city for $2.4 million, which they said would add to the tax rolls a government building left vacant when the city’s court functions moved to the former federal courthouse across Tucker Boulevard in 2002.

Beyond the TIF, the $60 million project is counting on financing from state and federal historic tax credits, brownfield tax credits and an extra 2 percent in sales taxes from a Transportation Development District and Community Improvement District set up on site. About $4.9 million would come from developer equity and $20.9 million from a loan, or 43 percent of the costs.

The rehab would turn old courtrooms into a bar, install an indoor pool and update systems in a structure Preston called “immense” and “challenging.”