With the development of the Oak Ridge North Commerce Park, the city hopes to capitalize on the need for industrial land as energy and oil and gas companies continue to move their operations to The Woodlands area, city officials said.
Dish Network, Woodlands Elite Cheer, Spectrum Catering and many energy and oil and gas corporations have bought or leased space in the Oak Ridge North Commerce Park, at the intersections of Robinson and Hanna roads.
In addition, companies such as Black Forest Ventures, which has a strong presence in The Woodlands, occupy two facilities.
The city is looking to generate property and sales tax revenue from energy corporations headquartered locally that want to keep their industrial facilities nearby, particularly those with offices in The Woodlands, City Manager Vicky Rudy said.
"This is the ExxonMobil effect at work in a small city," Rudy said. "It's location, location, location. [Oak Ridge North is] across from The Woodlands, it's three miles from the ExxonMobil center, and it is the only place in south Montgomery County near The Woodlands that has light industrial type of land available."
Commerce Park is one of the city's largest economic contributors, said Susan Cates, Oak Ridge North Economic Development Corporation coordinator.
The influx of industrial and warehouse-type businesses into the city have helped bring increased tax revenue, according to the city. Property tax valuations at the city's commerce park have grown from $432,410 in 2008 to more than $13.3 million in 2013, generating $76,000 in additional tax revenues annually, according to city documents.
In addition, the Commerce Park area could be expanding. Oak Ridge North has about 500 acres of land available within its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Rudy said the city is getting regular inquiries from businesses about land annexations into the city to bring similar development.
"Right now it's one-tract development, but [companies] are building off of the business park out there," Rudy said. "We have another inquiry in the mill—they haven't petitioned yet. We also have a couple of inquiries in the pipeline."
The challenge for the city, Rudy said, lies in infrastructure installation to connect facilities to city services after it annexes land for development.
The city invested just under $1.3 million in the commerce park after a 2004 agreement with TNRG, the leasing arm of Oak Ridge North Business Park. The agreement allows TNRG to run water, sewer, and storm water infrastructure along Robinson Road and within the development, Rudy said.
Money was obtained by the city from a $420,000 city land purchase by TNRG, and a combination of city money and 4B Economic Development Board money, Cates said.
"By 2020 our investment [will have] been returned, then it becomes 100 percent positive revenue for the city in taxes," Rudy said. "That is an investment in the future. They have allowed us to maintain our values and our tax rate because it keeps increasing our valuation."
