Loading...
BM 2000-09-06 EcDevCOPPELL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE September 6, 2000 MINUTES The Coppell Economic Development Committee met at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 6, 2000 at Coppell Town Center, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 255 Parkway Boulevard, Coppell, Texas 75019. The following were present: Chairman Bill Rohloff, 'Vice -Chairman Gary Roden, Bruce Bradford, Jay Thompson, Tim Brancheau, Bill Herries, Stan Morton, Karen Hunt, City Manager Jim Witt, Gary Sieb, Chad Beach, Andrea Roy, and Councilmember Doug Stover. 1. Call to Order Chairman Bill Rohloff called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes It was moved by Stan Morton and seconded by Karen Hunt that the minutes of the August 2nd and August 21st meetings be approved as recorded. The motion passed unanimously. At the request of City Manager Jim Witt, Item #8 was moved to the front of the agenda. 8. Update on Freeport Exemption Mr. Witt updated the Committee on the status of the Freeport Exemption. Mr. Witt explained that the City will transfer the $1.2 million to an escrow account designated by CISD on September 15th and on September 18, 2000, CISD is expected to pass the final resolution. During the next few months and through January City staff will be working out the figures with CISD. Bill Rohloff and Jim Witt thanked all involved in getting the Freeport Exemption passed. 3. Request by Catellus Commercial Group for Tax Abatement Gary Sieb introduced Stephen Bryan with Catellus Commercial Group. The Catellus Commercial Group is proposing to build a two-story, 100,000 square foot office building within the Gateway Corporate Center. The proposed building is designed as two separate buildings connected by a large central atrium with an adjacent courtyard. The building will front both the LBJ Freeway and Dividend Drive, designed with two front facades. The projected number of employees at the facility is 350-400 for a conventional office use, with approximately 5-10% of those employees possibly residing in Coppell. Catellus is currently working with a potential tenant that is interested in occupying the entire building. Mr. Bryan indicated that the potential tenant has a national presence and desires the exposure and visibility on LBJ Freeway. Catellus Commercial Group will be the leasee; however, the potential tenant has indicated an interest in purchasing the building. Catellus wishes to complete negotiations with the tenant in 7-10 days and begin construction by September 18th. Chad Beach followed with the review of a summary of the results of the econometric model for the subject site. Catellus is asking for a 5 -year, 75% tax abatement. Discussion followed. It was determined that a condition of the approval be added in order to ensure that the building is completed in a timely manner. Councilmember Doug Stover indicated that as sites are steadily being developed, it would be beneficial to discuss the City's policy on granting abatements. It was discussed that City Council and the Committee meet jointly at some point to discuss policies on tax abatements. Councilman Stover will initiate. It was moved by Bill Herries and seconded by Jay Thompson that the Catellus Commercial Group be granted a 5 -year, 75% tax abatement, with the condition that the certificate of occupancy for the building(s) be issued prior to December 31, 2002. It was passed unanimously. 4. Request by Lincoln Property Company for Tax Abatement Gary Sieb introduced Tom Kuhlman with Lincoln Properties. Lincoln Properties is currently constructing a 115,200 square foot building at the SW corner of Wrangler and Lakeshore Drives for Charles Schwab. This building will house Charles Schwab's Fulfillment/Data Center, where statements and publications will be printed and distributed. The projected number of employees is 200, with approximately 50 of those possibly residing in Coppell. Lincoln Properties has secured a 10 -year lease with Charles Schwab. Bill Herries questioned Lincoln's status on the Freeport Exemption and Mr. Kuhlman indicated that he had referred the information from the City to his superiors. He also indicated that they have recently sold a large portion of their buildings to Reef Development Company and no longer control any buildings that might fall under the Freeport Exemption status. Mr. Kuhlman indicated that he would refer the Committee's concerns to Reef and look into the matter further. Chad Beach followed with the review of a summary of the results of the econometric model for the subject site. Lincoln Properties is asking for a 5 -year, 75% tax abatement. Gary Sieb indicated that a request for an amendment to the site plan is currently being processed and will be heard by City Council on September 12th. There were some development concerns with the proposed changes to the site. It was moved by Stan Morton and seconded by Bill Herries that the request for Tax Abatement by the Lincoln Property Group be deferred until October after site plan amendments are approved by City Council. Motion passed (7-1) opposed -Karen Hunt. 5. Request by Prentiss Properties to amend the Tax Abatement Agreement for the IBM Call Center Chad Beach briefed the Committee on the request by Prentiss to amend the existing tax abatement. Prentiss' initial estimated values of the improvements and tangible personal property were inaccurate. The actual value of the building has been reduced from $17 million as noted on the agreement to $9.8 million. In addition, the value of the tangible personal property has been reduced from $6.5 million as noted on the agreement to $450,000. Prentiss has indicated that budget errors were made on their part. Chad Beach indicated that revenue amounts would decrease as a result of the changes. Discussion by the Committee followed. Prentiss has also requested that the amendment be retroactive. The change can not be made retroactive, only amended from this point forward. The remaining four-year term of the tax abatement agreement may reflect the revised values. It was moved by Stan Morton and seconded by Karen Hunt that the amendment to the tax abatement by Prentiss Properties for the IBM Call Center be granted with the noted revised values. It was passed unanimously. 6. Request by Prentiss Properties to amend the Tax Abatement Agreement for Lakeview Center Chad Beach briefed the Committee on the request by Prentiss to amend the existing tax abatement. Again, Prentiss' initial estimated values of the improvements were inaccurate. However, in this case, the error reduces the value of the building from $8 million as noted on the agreement to $5.3 million, an amount below the minimum $5.5 million. Prentiss has agreed to maintain the taxable value of improvements at $5.5 million, satisfying the deficiency. Discussion by the Committee followed. F It was moved by Bruce Bradford and seconded by Gary Roden that the amendment to the tax abatement by Prentiss for Lakeview Center be granted with the noted revised values. It was passed unanimously. 7. Request by Beck Realty Group to amend the Tax Abatement and Economic Development Incentive Agreements for GTENerizon Chad Beach briefed the Committee on the request by Beck Realty Group to extend the completion date for Building "B" noted in both the Tax Abatement and Economic Development Incentive Agreements for the GTE site. As a result of a recent merger, GTE is now known as Verizon and due to the extended length of time to complete the merger, Verizon is requesting additional time to complete the proposed Building `B". Verizon wishes to extend the deadline from December 31, 2000 to April 1, 2002. Discussion by the Committee followed. The Committee determined that it did not want to continue granting extensions and wished to add a condition to the approval that this extension shall be granted only once. It was moved by Karen Hunt and seconded by Jay Thompson that GTENerizon be granted an extension for completion of building `B" until April 1, 2002, as noted in both the Tax Abatement and Economic Development Incentive Agreements, with the condition that this is the only extension granted. It was passed unanimously. 9. Update on development Gary Sieb updated the Partnership on some of the current development applications scheduled for Planning Commission and City Council. Adjournment With no further business to discuss, it was moved by Karen Hunt and seconded by Gary Roden that the meeting adjourn. By unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Andrea L. Roy COPPELL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, September 6, 2000 Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m. (Open to the Public) Meeting Place: 2nd Floor Conference Room, Coppell Town Center Notice is hereby given that the Economic Development Partnership will meet on Wednesday September 6, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the 2nd Floor Conference Room at the Coppell Town Center, 255 Parkway Boulevard, Coppell, Texas. The purpose of the meeting is to consider the following items: WORK SESSION (Open to the Public) Item 1: Call to Order. Item 2: Approval of Minutes: August 2, 2000 and August 21, 2000 Item 3: Consideration of a request by Catellus Commercial Group for tax abatement for a 100,000 sq. ft. office building on 7.3 acres located at the NE corner of LBJ Freeway and Freeport Parkway. Item 4: Consideration of a request by Lincoln Property Company for tax abatement for a 115,200 sq. ft. oflicelwarehouse development on 8.6 acres located at the comer of Wrangler and Lakeshore Drives. Item 5: Consideration of a request by Prentiss Properties to amend the tax abatement agreement for 1177 Belt Line Road (IBM Call Center) located at the SW corner of Belt Line Road and Airline Drive. (Tax Abatement Reinvestment Zone #22) Item 6: Consideration of a request by Prentiss Properties to amend the tax abatement agreement for 1199 Belt Line Road (Lakeview Center) located at the NW Corner of Belt Line Road and Wrangler Drive. (Tax Abatement Reinvestment Zone #23) Item 7: Consideration of a request by Beck Realty Group to transfer the tax abatement agreement for GTE to an affiliate or new party by GTE located at the NE comer of S.H. 121 and Canyon Drive. (Tax Abatement Reinvestment Zone #21) Item 8: Discussion and Update on Triple Freeport Tax Exemption (Witt) Item 9: Update on development within the City (Planning). Adjournment CERTIFICATE I certify that the above notice of meeting was posted at 5:00 p.m on the bulletin board at the Town Center of the City of Coppell, Texas, on Friday September 1, 2000. 5 Cra..i Q a Tt Scarlett Hovland, Secretary