New Haven officials have taken the first step to allow two tax breaks for FedEx Ground Package System Inc. at a new $25 million distribution center.
City Council members agreed unanimously Tuesday to declare the area where the distribution center will be built – Gateway Park, 11039 Lincoln Highway E. – an economic revitalization area, a preliminary step for tax abatement.
The vacant 40-acre site is owned by Setzer Properties ZFWY LLC. The landlord has agreed to invest about $12.5 million to construct a 178,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution center.
FedEx Ground is asking for two five-year tax phase-ins, one on a $14 million investment in the land and building and one on a $13 million investment on new equipment, said Nicole Liter, an Allen County economic development specialist.
The abatements would save the company more than $1 million over five years, Liter said.
The international shipping company’s plans will create 87 part-time jobs at the new distribution center and bring 107 existing jobs from the current center at 2742 Wayne Haven St., said Greg Myers, a consultant with Duff & Phelps and a representative of FedEx.
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Council members also approved a new tax abatement policy that the city of Fort Wayne and Allen County recently adopted.
The biggest change in the policy was a new system that uses a more extensive points scheme to create larger rewards for companies that promise better-paying jobs, Liter said.
When deciding on abatements, companies are scored by points, with 100 being the maximum. Under the new policy, higher-paying jobs are worth more points, as are jobs with good benefits. The more points a project scores, the longer it takes for the taxes to be phased in.
Previously, there were seven-year abatements and 10-year abatements; they can now be for as few as three years.
The county approved 16 abatements in 2011 and eight in 2012. Fort Wayne approved 37 in 2012 and three so far this year.
