As the city prepares to build infrastructure, including wastewater lines and the Oakmont Drive extension, along Westinghouse Road in the South Georgetown tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, developer Don Bourn, CEO of Arizona-based Bourn Companies,has begun planning for future growth on his property in the zone.
We have one common goal, Bourn told the Georgetown Economic Development Corp. Advisory Board at its Feb. 16 meeting. We want to create a regional economic employment center for this area.
The TIRZ is a special taxing district that caps property values at the value when theTIRZ is established. Any city property taxes collected on the increased property values are put into the TIRZ fund. Those dollars can only be used to fund improvements, such as roads and other infrastructure projects, in the zone.
The South Georgetown TIRZ includes 595 acres of property including the Bourn Tract, which is located on the south side of Westinghouse Road.
Our goal is to have high quality development that promotes economic growth and creates jobs, Georgetown Economic Development Director Mark Thomas said, adding the TIRZ could fund up to $50 million in improvements.
Thomas said as the infrastructure is built he expects more development projects to occur.
Bourn said he is developing plans to build flexible office space that would allow businesses the city had been previously unable to attract to move to the area.
The buildings are designed to be flexible so if people have specific requirements, we can build that in, he said, adding that the space would allow companies to expand or contract and reconfigure the space as needed. Were trying to figure out how to give as much flexibility as possible.
Bourn told the board the space could include innovative technology, green space and sport courts.
The space could eventually include between 600,000 square feet and 1 million square feet of office space and have room for 3,000 to 6,000 jobs, he said.
Bourn said the office space could be a platform for attracting employers of choice to Georgetown.
The first 50,000-square-foot building could be available for tenants shortly after the infrastructure projects are completed, which could be in mid-2016, he said.
Eighty percent of [economic development] deals go into existing buildings, Thomas said. This gets us closer to market to a user we havent been able to market to before.