$45M in incentives on table for development that could bring something new to Pflugerville
1,000-plus homes, nearly 1 million square feet of offices possible
A dense mixed-use project already underway in Pflugerville is in line to benefit from tax incentives.
Pflugerville City Council voted Tuesday to change the boundaries of the city's only tax increment reinvestment zone to include the Pecan District, a development near the corner of Old Austin Pflugerville Road and South Heatherwilde Boulevard in the southwestern part of the Travis County suburb.
The vote means developer Presidium Group LLC could receive up to $45 million in reimbursements from increased tax revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements such as road, stormwater, wastewater, parking and open-space upgrades.
As Austin Business Journal reported last week, construction has already started on the first part of the 45-acre project, a 272-apartment complex called The Elliott. When it's finished, the Pecan District is expected to include 1,150 residential units, almost 1 million square feet of office space and up to 228,000 square feet of retail and restaurants.
The expansion of the tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, would only cover the first five phases of the 10-phase project that Presidium is co-developing with Cid Galindo.
Pflugerville City Council Member Mike Heath voiced concerns Tuesday about risks to the city if plans for the Pecan District stalled in a recession, suggesting the incentives amounted to "corporate welfare."
"This benefit has to be real and salient," Heath said. "The question is what is the benefit to the city and why should we encumber the city's financial indebtedness for the benefit of a project... to increase their internal rate of return on a project that's not in our strategic plan and not providing the assets that we've defined that we need going forward?"
Several residents had also previously urged Council to reject the expansion of Pflugerville's TIRZ, according to Community Impact.
But a half dozen residents on Tuesday told Council the project would boost tax revenue for schools and city services, as well as provide amenities and jobs further from the already-booming parts of Pflugerville that straddle TX-130.
A preliminary report by consultant Impact DataSource LLC found that the project would have a net economic benefit of $43.2 million over the next 40 years.
Council would still need to approve development and reimbursement agreements for the Pecan District in the spring, according to Pflugerville staff.
The project's architect is Mark Odom Studio. Jones|Carter is the civil engineer and CPH Structural Engineering Inc. is the structural engineer. Design Workshop is crafting the project's landscape features and AYS Engineering will handle the project's mechanical, electrical and plumbing components.
Beyond Pecan District, Presidium is involved in several Austin developments such as The Pop arts district on East Riverside Drive.