County to consider EDATE for former PNJ site

  • December 11, 2014
  • /   Shannon Nickinson
  • /   economy
Tonight, Escambia County Commissioners will discuss a tax incentive package that will bolster a $50 million urban redevelopment project in the downtown Pensacola core. Commissioners will be asked to adopt a resolution for an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption (EDATE) for Daily Convo LLC for up to 10 years. Daily Convo LLC is a corporation of Quint and Rishy Studers. The couple bought the site of the former Pensacola News Journal at 101 E. Romana street in 2013 for $3.4 million. The Studers donated the south side of the parcel to the Northwest Florida YMCA. A new flagship downtown branch for the YMCA is expected to begin construction next year. On the old PNJ site, plans call for a mixed-use residential apartment building with up to 300 units and space for retail and rental office space. The new business will include significant capital investment, as well as partial public use of a multi-story car parking deck with up to 500 spaces. The project will encompass the removal of a large blighted industrial building and will include construction of much needed urban high density workforce housing as well as creation of new jobs from retail and commercial businesses. Read our previous story about the project here.

Pensacola City Council on Sept. 11 approved an EDATE on the project as well.

EDATEs are tax exemptions for economic development projects that allow up to 100 percent of the assessed value of real property improvements and new tangible property acquisitions for up to 10 years.

EDATEs are rated on an evaluation system that includes: industry type, amount of capital investment, number of current and proposed employees, project location and design.

The EDATE exempts the city millage rates from the increased assessed value up to $50 million from 2017- 2026. That means taxes will be paid to the city at the existing taxable value of the property — which for 2014 was $2,964,553. That assessment generated about $80,000 annually.

After the EDATE expires, taxes could be assessed on the full, post-investment value.
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