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Posted Jul 30, 2014, 8:53 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Tuscaloosa
Posts: 515
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And its approved.
Quote:
Incentive package for Tuscaloosa shopping center project approved
An incentive package of $16.57 million in tax rebates for a Clanton-based developer was approved unanimously Tuesday by the Tuscaloosa City Council.
Alumni Construction & Development Co. will get the tax rebated for its the $62 million shopping center it will build at the corner of 13th Avenue and McFarland Boulevard — the site of the former Cedar Crest neighborhood that was destroyed by the April 27, 2011, tornado.
The 217,500-square-foot development will bring six new anchor stores — Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fresh Market, PetSmart, DSW Shoes, Bed Bath & Beyond and Cost Plus World Market — to the area with the completion of the Shoppes at Legacy Park.
With approval of the incentive agreement came an update on the project’s timeline. Alumni Construction is now required to begin construction by Oct. 1 and developers expect the project the be finished by October 2015.
“Come next Christmas, there will be a new place to shop in Tuscaloosa,” said Keith Owens of Alumni Construction & Development. “I believe Alumni Development has delivered on its promise to the city of Tuscaloosa.
“We’re doing everything we can to get the community energized about what’s coming.”
Prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, Jim Page, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, said he supported the incentive package not only for the benefit of Alumni Development, but also for the future of the Tuscaloosa retail market.
“These new-to-the-market tenants will not only help keep sales tax dollars at home, but they will make the Tuscaloosa market more attractive” to retailers not currently here, Page said.
Essentially, Tuscaloosa has suffered from a misrepresentation of its demographics, meaning more retail store companies have not seen it worthwhile to invest here, he said.
Now, college students — and the money they can spend — are part of the equation. And with the six new anchor tenants now announced, it will make other companies see the area as desirable, Page said.
“Momentum breeds momentum,” he said. “There’s going to be other retailers (asking): ‘Why aren’t we in that market?’”
Once completed, the retail development is projected to create up to 600 new jobs, at least $37.2 million in annual sales taxes, up to $120,000 in new yearly business license fees and generate property taxes of more than $160,000, which will increase yearly for the next three decades.
Of the $16.57 million in city-granted incentives, City Hall will rebate to Alumni Development 78 percent of the sales taxes generated from the six anchor stores it plans to bring over 15 years or a total of $9.8 million, whichever comes first. For the remaining stores, the city will collect all the sales taxes.
Additionally, the city will rebate property taxes from the entire 16.125-acre tract for the next 30 years or for a total of $6.77 million, whichever comes first.
The agreement contains stipulations requiring Alumni Development to use a certain percentage of contractors from Tuscaloosa County.
Property taxes for city schools will not be affected by the incentive package. Those taxes are estimated to reach $430,000 a year, or $12.9 million over a 30-year span.
Also included in the agreement is a “New Business Marketing” provision that requires Alumni Development to fill 90 percent of the retail space with businesses and stores that are new to the Tuscaloosa market.
For the remaining 10 percent of space or about 22,000 square feet, Alumni Development will face additional limitations for three years after its grand opening.
During that time, Alumni Development cannot recruit existing businesses unless the relocating tenant is moving into a larger space or it signs a longer lease in the Alumni Development project than it has with its current landlord.
The limitations are not enough, according to at least one Tuscaloosa-based development company that is concerned about losing tenants from its current and future shopping sites.
Pate Companies attorney Cam Parsons told the City Council that the New Business Marketing provision did not do enough to protect existing property owners from having their tenants poached by the Shoppes at Legacy Park.
“How much of that total shop space are you going to allow to be taken from other landlords?,” Parsons said. “On behalf of those who have been developing here for decades, we’re concerned about the competitive advantage (of the incentives).”
Parsons, who first brought his concerns to the council members during its pre-
council meeting, succeeded in getting the 36 months from the grand opening provision added to the incentive package. Initially, it was for 24 months starting from the moment construction began.
Still, the change was not enough, he said, asking for a five-year window from the time the retail center opened.
“I still don’t think this provision, as drafted, does what it’s intended to do,” Parsons said.
Associate City Attorney Tom Bobitt, who authored the final incentive package, said the agreement allows the City Council to revoke any or all tax rebates if Alumni Development does not fulfill all of the detailed rules and regulations.
“If the developer defaults on any part of the agreement,” Bobitt said, “the developer could lose their incentives.”
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http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...news?p=1&tc=pg
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