The East Ridge Industrial Development Board will meet on Tuesday, May 7, at 5 p.m. at City Hall.
The board meets to consider incentive agreements to new businesses in the city. An agenda has yet to be posted for the meeting. However, one city official told East Ridge News Online that the meeting will focus on proposed incentive packages to the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, and to the developer of a proposed extended stay motel called Candlewood Suites at 6519 Ringgold Rd. The site is currently occupied by the Super 8 Motel.
At an April 25 press conference outside City Hall, the Red Wolves organization announced it was building a 5,500 seat soccer stadium on land adjacent to Spring Creek Road that would be the club’s permanent home. Owner Bob Martino unveiled plans regarding a mixed-used development around the stadium that would include retail stores, restaurants, condos/apartments, a hotel and a convention center, representing a total investment of $125 million.
In recent years, the IDB has approved incentive packages to several developments. City officials say the financial incentives make good economic sense because the new businesses generate new local sales tax and property taxes. In addition, the new businesses add to the bottom line of state sales tax. Under the Border Region Act, East Ridge receives 75 percent of state sales taxes above a baseline figure established in 2012.
In May of 2017 the IDB agreed to provide $30,000 a year for the next 20 years to Mack Smith Commons LLC, the legal entity that built a 5,500 square-foot building on the corner of Mack Smith and Ringgold Roads. The site, formerly home to Long John Silver’s, houses a Firehouse Subs, Dunkin Donuts and a hair styling business.
In March 2017, the IDB offered a $1 million incentive package over a 20-year period to Suhash Patel to build a 6,500 square-foot building on the corner of Ringgold Road and Truman Street. City officials said the new businesses there would generate $3.2 million in state increment sales tax, which East Ridge would capture, and more than $800,000 in local sales taxes. In addition, the property would add close to $250,000 to city coffers in the form of property taxes.
Part of the agreement was that the building must have a minimum of three tenants in order to qualify for the incentive from the City. The development, which is home to Marco’s Pizza, has failed to do so, officials said. Therefore, no taxpayer money has yet to go to the developers.
In September 2018 the IDB agreed to an incentive package of $600,000 for the Jack’s Family Restaurant being built in the 4200 block of Ringgold Road.
The following month, the IDB signed off on a complicated incentive package with Southern Honda Powersports. The deal would potentially provide $7.2 million over a 22-year period to the company, one of the largest off-road vehicle Honda dealers in the world.
Southern Honda Powersports has yet to break ground on the project site located at 6750 Ringgold Rd where it intends to build a $35,000 square-foot facility.
Here’s a link to the city’s information on the duties and scope of the IDB: http://eastridgetn.gov/Economic-Development/Industrial-Development-Board.aspx
