The City Council in Savage this week will consider a nearly $4 million package of subsidies for a senior housing project.

The 86-unit facility near the public library and City Hall is being proposed by United Properties, a major developer.

City officials say it would fill a gap in community offerings, create scores of jobs and fit in aesthetically with the municipal campus.

The project doesn't otherwise pencil out, they say, because it includes 17 affordable units.

The bulk of the subsidy, about $3.5 million, would come in the form of tax-increment financing, in which the developer is refunded the vast majority of the additional value that the $18 million project creates on tax rolls.

Total value of the package would be $3.87 million, including other smaller concessions.

Cherrywood Pointe would offer affordable and assisted living units, and it would have to be affordable for decades.

DAVID PETERSON

dapeterson@startribune.com