The developers of a $20 million pediatric health care facility near Cedar Park Regional Medical Center are eligible for $257,900 in reimbursements after Cedar Park City Council approved the incentive deal Sept. 25.
City Council approved an incentive agreement for Pediatric Subspecialty Land Co. North LLC, which plans to build a 70,000-square-foot facility northeast of Medical Parkway along Toll 183A. The incentive agreement requires Pediatric Subspecialty to complete infrastructure improvements such as added water lines and to have the building ready for occupancy within 18 months.
On Sept. 15 the city's Economic Development Corp., or 4A Board, approved the agreement. The reimbursement amount is already appropriated in the 4A Board's budget.
During the Sept. 25 council meeting Phil Brewer, Cedar Park economic development director, said the company's physicians are associated with Dell Children's Medical Center.
"That's great because it really plays off the Dell Children's unit that's recently been established at Cedar Park [Regional Medical] Center," Brewer said. "It really goes a long way in providing those additional pediatric specialty [fields]."
The project will create 180 jobs with a total annual payroll of $14 million, Brewer said.
Place 1 Councilman Stephen Thomas praised the project as a means to more development.
"You're adding value to the property north of [the incentivized property] by having the utilities in there," he said.
Technology incentives
On Sept. 25, City Council also approved an agreement that will provide about $1.2 million in 4A Board incentives to aerospace technology company Firefly Space Systems.
The 4A Board approved the incentive agreement Sept. 15.
Under the agreement Firefly will create 200 jobs with an average annual salary of $60,000 and a total annual payroll of $12 million. The company will receive 4A Board grants after reaching certain benchmarks for employment, such as 110 employees by 2018.
Firefly Chief Executive Officer Thomas Markusic said the firm is developing rocket systems for private satellite launches, a new market that other companies have not addressed.
"What are we doing? Rocket science," Markusic said. "We are building space infrastructure."
City Council also approved a resolution that authorizes Mayor Matt Powell to sign an amended incentive agreement with Fallbrook Technologies. In May 2011, City Council approved the original agreement that required Fallbrook to create 125 jobs with an annual payroll of at least $9.5 million by Oct. 1, 2013. But in September 2013, Fallbrook approached the city to say the company had changed its business plan and could not meet the city's required employee count.
Larry Holt, Cedar Park assistant director of economic development, said the amended agreement preserves the original agreement's payroll requirement. But the amended agreement requires that Fallbrook have at least 150 employees to receive incentives between 2019 and 2024, Holt said.
This story was updated for clarity Oct. 7, 2014, at 3:20 p.m. CST.
