North Mankato will end up with a much more welcoming entrance to lower North Mankato if all goes according to plan.

After years of possible projects that fell through, it looks as if the city will finally see development on the former Marigold Dairy site off of Belgrade Avenue near the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

And from the details made public so far, it looks like a solid plan. If all goes smoothly, North Mankato will have a new four-story business and residential complex in 2009.

For years the city has struggled with getting the property developed. Houses were moved from the area years ago for development purposes, but hotel proposals fell through after soil borings revealed a tall structure couldn’t be built there.

Instead of settling for a smaller, duplicative use for the land, such as a gas station, the city kept working away at finding a more suitable, attractive use for the prime spot. And it appears this combination business and residential development could be the answer.

The North Mankato Port Authority’s approval of the project July 15 means the city will provide $190,000 from the revenue of the newly approved half-cent sales tax. The city also applied for and expects to receive a state redevelopment grant of $129,925 or possibly up to $148,000. (The sales tax revenue approved for the project would decrease by $20,000 if the city gets the higher amount from the state.)

The city will sell the land for $1 with the developer paying back the city the cost of the lot — valued at about $450,000 — through tax-increment financing. TIF allows a business to take the money that ordinarily would be used for tax payments and put it toward repayment of property or infrastructure costs. For this project, the financing is expected to be paid back in about 25 years or fewer.

It appears to be good use of the city’s money, one that will bring jobs and housing to the community as well as fill up an empty gravel lot.