FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — "This is our original Main Street." That is part of Joe Giant's pitch for Fort Wayne City Council to pitch in for private development on The Landing. Giant, who works for Fort Wayne's Community Development Division, presented a plan to City Council Tuesday asking for their support of a $20 million housing development. "I'm excited to see the whole community come together on our original Main Street, the way we've been doing for 100 years," Giant said, referencing The Landing's history as the centerpiece of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The 40-unit complex, dubbed “The Landing Exchange,” would replace a parking lot next to Nawa and its beloved buffalo mural, although Giant said not to worry about that. "Yeah, it's in the lot that's in front of the buffalo mural, but there will absolutely be space to see the buffalo mural between buildings," Giant said. "In fact, I would say that some of our alley artwork is one of the most unique things about Fort Wayne." Rendering of The Landing Exchange provided by the city of Fort Wayne The Model Group, which has already worked on other projects in The Landing, is the developer, and they appeared alongside Giant to present the financial stack for the development. Jason Chamlee, VP of mixed-use development with The Model Group, noted that coming to the city to ask for funds is indicative of a changing market, and rising construction costs. "If I could build this building for what I paid to build Mercado, we wouldn't be here," Chamlee said. The money going into the project at the end of the day will come from several different sources, but the city will end up chipping in $4 million to push the project. "The simple answer is the Model Group's money, conventional financing, they're working with the state on a potential grant and tax increment financing (TIF)," Giant said. Fort Wayne will issue a $4 million bond to help pay for the development and declare it as a TIF district. That means Fort Wayne will tax the value of The Landing Exchange, but the revenue from the increased value of the property will go toward paying back the bond. "It's a TIF district, so any increase in tax value is recaptured and then invested back into the district," Giant said. The TIF will last for 25 years while the bond is paid back, provided the measure gets final approval from City Council at a future meeting.