пятница, 27 июня 2008 г.

Construction Company Seeks Tax Abatement for Arlington

A Cincinnati construction company is seeking a property tax abatement from the city to help finance a $6 million project to restore a tornado-ravaged office building in southeast Arlington.

The AG Hauck Co. of Ohio, which specializes in restoring buildings after natural disasters, has filed an application seeking a 60 percent discount on local property taxes for 10 years. The company said it plans to reopen the 112,000- square-foot building at 1351 E. Bardin Road in the Interstate 20 business corridor as an office and call center.

The property was formerly the regional home of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and the state departments of Protective and Regulatory Services, Human Services and Health.

Hauck Holdings has not yet purchased the building, real estate broker Jim Whitten of CB Richard Ellis said. The company's plans are on hold pending City Council approval of its abatement request. Construction would take about eight months, according to the company's application. Abatements reduce local taxes due on real property, such as a building, or personal property, such as equipment.

"We think it's a perfect call center site in an excellent location between Collins Street and New York Avenue, with I-20 visibility," said Whitten, who is marketing the property for the owner, Tyler businessman Jack Paul. "It could go to a single user or we can break it up." The building would "be completely renovated and redone" by Hauck, Whitten said.

Arlington Chamber of Commerce President David Sampson said the city would be responsible for demolishing the building if it is not purchased.

"There is not a great market out there for storm-damaged buildings," Sampson said. "Look at the Bank One building in downtown Fort Worth. We're fortunate to have a company who is willing to come in and restore the building."

Under the city's existing guidelines, tax abatements are available when a developer plans to add $5 million or more to the city's tax base. The rules vary for special investment districts within the city.

In the case of the East Bardin Road building, the restored building is expected to be appraised at about $4.5 million, so the improved value would fall short of city guidelines, said Rudy Farias, an assistant to the Arlington city manager.

He said Hauck has asked the City Council to consider lowering the minimum added value required for an abatement to $3 million to accommodate the project. The tornado left the building a steel frame.

"They're putting in about $6.1 million in improvements with the assumption the building would be appraised at least $4.5 million," Farias said.

Any tax abatement request would be reviewed by the council's Fiscal Stewardship Committee, with the council having final approval.

Councilman Joe Bruner, the committee's chairman, said he supports the developer's abatement request.

"It's a godsend," Bruner said. "You couldn't asked for anything better. Naysayers might say we're giving stuff away, but that's just not the way we saw it. This will get jobs back into that building."

Farias said the city would present the fiscal committee with the applicant's formal application and tax number estimates on March 20.

The Arlington I-20 business corridor is home to about 4,000 call center and service-center jobs, all of which operate within 2 miles of the Bardin office building, according to company and Arlington chamber estimates.

Комментариев нет: