Competitive sites program spurs south county economic development Click here
Big Bend warehouse project spurs debate over incentives and transportation needs
By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Hillsborough County commissioners at their June 3 meeting were expected to approve a $438,068 incentive to offset costs for Project Station, a nationally known home improvement distributor set to move to the Big Bend area.
Instead, the action was moved to the board’s June 17 meeting for further consideration. Debate over the issue shed light on the county’s mobility fee buy-down incentive program, which county commissioners created in November 2016 as part of the county’s competitive sites program, run by Hillsborough’s Economic Development Department.
At the June 3 meeting, Commissioner Mariella Smith indicated that since mobility fees, funded first by acquired transportation impact fee credits, are the county’s “prime funding source” for “providing transportation infrastructure as we grow,” commissioners “really need to carefully consider any proposal to waive mobility fees for any developer.”
“These credits do not actually provide any money to pay for transportation infrastructure,” Smith said. “So if the developer is getting its mobility fees waived, then the road improvements needed by its development must be paid out of taxpayer funds, or they’re not paid for at all, and the traffic gets worse in these spots.”
Commissioner Pat Kemp said Smith’s points “were well taken” and agreed with Smith that “credits” are not “money.” Smith also noted that the county does not have trouble getting big warehouse development (such as the Project Station development), that this particular development doesn’t bring enough jobs to warrant the incentive, that the project is in a high-traffic area, and that the property taxes that would be assessed in this instance are really “nothing special.”
Commissioner Sandra Murman, however, spoke in favor of the Big Bend project incentive and the mobility fee-buy down incentive program overall. “We are in a huge time of uncertainty in our economy right now and anything we can do to create jobs is valuable for our community,” Murman said.
According to Murman, several projects already approved for mobility fee buy-down incentives have netted 1,700 jobs, and that many of the projects “in the industrial area are small businesses.”
Again, contracts approved by commissioners under the incentive program are funded first by acquired transportation impact fee credits. If those credits are not available, then funds are drawn from the Economic Development Department’s economic development activity fund.
After an initial 3-3 vote, Commissioner Stacy White moved successfully to have further review of the Project Station incentive moved to the board’s June 17 meeting. The vote to do so was 4-2, with commissioners Kemp and Smith opposed. Board chairman Lesley “Les” Miller voted yes, along with Murman, White and Overman. Commissioner Ken Hagan was not in attendance.
Project Station’s opening in south Hillsborough County is expected to create 42 jobs and net $577,190 per year in property taxes levied on real estate, according to county records. The unincorporated portion of this ad valorem tax is expected to amount to $349,160 annually.
The break-even point for incentive money offered and ad valorem taxes gained is expected in 2024.
According to county officials, Seefried Big Bend LLC, in January 2018, purchased 65.65 acres at the southeast intersection of Big Bend Road and Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41), for a high-cube distribution warehouse amounting to 492,156 square feet.
The project represents a $63 million investment, including the $9.6 million land purchase that was expected to close this year, officials say. Additional costs include $46.4 million for site development and construction costs and $7 million for tenant improvements, including racks and conveyors.
County officials had expected to issue site and building permit approvals this summer with construction set to begin shortly after.
To read the June 3 meeting transcript, visit https://bit.ly/2XJbpta.