Tuesday, in a 15-minute meeting at City Hall, the East Ridge Industrial Development Board gave its blessing to development agreements with two new businesses locating in the city.
Southern Honda Powersports is relocating from its location on Workman Road in Chattanooga to the 6700 block of Ringgold Road where it intends to build a 40,000 square-foot facility to sell all things Honda.
Jack’s Family Restaurants, which has a large presence in the Southeast, including a location in Fort Oglethorpe, will build a restaurant in the 4200 block of Ringgold Road across the busy commercial corridor from the Fire and Police Services Center.
Both incentive agreements had previously been approved by the East Ridge City Council. With the formalization of both development agreements with the IDB, the measures will now go before the East Ridge City Council in the form of resolutions.
The development agreement with Southern Honda will provide for the business to get 90 percent of the state tax increment dollars from its sales under the Border Region Act for the first six years of its existence. That number will decrease by increments of 10 percent in six-year increments over the ensuing 12 years. The dealership will receive 60 percent of the state increment tax money in the final three years.
Interim City Manager Kenny Custer told the board that the city stands to add more than $5 million in revenue during the 22-year period of the deal.
Tim Kelly of Southern Honda Powersports said that final architectural drawings are being reviewed by Honda. Ground may be broken within 60 days. It is his intention to be up and running in some form by July 2019.
The action taken with Jack’s Family Restaurants, said City Attorney Mark Litchford, was simply to address the entity’s name in documents that it will be doing business as “Jack’s.”
Litchford said attorney’s representing the business entity simply wished to clarify.
The Jack’s deal calls for the city to provide a $600,000 incentive over a 20-year period. With the addition of Jack’s in East Ridge, the city stands to add about $1.7 million to its bottom line in the form of local sales and property taxes.
