In addition to millions in tax breaks, two companies planning to come to Greenwood could also get help with road projects to prepare the area for the traffic they are expected to bring.
The city is considering spending $2 million on multiple road projects in an area east of Interstate 65 that is currently undeveloped, including adding stoplights, widening roads and adding turn lanes.
Last year, the Greenwood City Council approved more than $20 million in tax breaks for FedEx and Newgistics for distribution facilities the companies proposed building on land north of Worthsville Road, between Graham and Collins roads.
Now, the Greenwood Redevelopment Commission is considering giving further assistance to the companies by helping pay for road improvements necessary due to the development of their facilities.
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Developers are often required to pay for road improvements that are needed as a result of their projects, but as part of the package of incentives to attract the businesses to Greenwood, the city offered to help pay for some of the work, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said.
The work would include traffic lights at the intersection of Worthsville and Collins roads, widening portions of Collins Road and Allen Road and adding turn lanes along the portion of Graham Road next to the FedEx site along with the intersections of Graham Road and Allen Road with Collins Road, Myers said.
The city plans to contribute $2 million to the project with FedEx and Scanell Properties, which owns the Newgistics site, paying the remainder of the costs. The total amount has not yet been determined, Myers said.
Given the size of the investments both companies are making, Greenwood is getting a good deal because the city will quickly recoup the money spent on the road work from the increase in property taxes, Myers said.
Last year, the city council approved giving a 10-year, $17.3 million tax break to FedEx in return for the company investing $259 million in a 608,000-square-foot distribution facility that will create 80 full-time jobs and 375 part-time jobs. The council also approved a 10-year, $3.3 million tax break to Scannell Properties and Newgistics, in exchange for the company investing $36 million in a 447,000-square-foot distribution facility and equipment, which is projected to employ 224 people.
Work on the road improvements is expected to begin this spring, he said.
The area, which is currently farmland, is undeveloped, but that will change later this year as construction gets underway on both the FedEx and Newgistics sites. These are the first two major developments directly north of Worthsville Road on the east side of I-65, though about a dozen commercial buildings are along Graham Road directly south of Main Street.
The improvements will turn a set of rural roads into ones capable of handling significant traffic from semi-trucks, and allow Fedex, Newgistics and the business to the north on Graham Road to have easier access to the I-65 interchange at Worthsville Road.
The tax-increment financing, or TIF, district that covers the area where the developments are planned is newly created, and has not yet had enough new development to collect a significant amount of property taxes. So the redevelopment commission is considering taking out a loan to cover the work, which would be paid off with property taxes the TIF district would collected from the FedEx and Newgistics properties, along with other new development, interim city controller Kathie Fritz said.
The loan would need to be approved by both the redevelopment commission and city council.
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Here’s a look at some of the road improvements the city of Greenwood and developers are planning near the planned Newgistics and FedEx facilities, east of Greenwood:
- Traffic lights at the intersection of Worthsville and Collins roads
- Turn lanes into FedEx along Graham Road
- Widening sections of Collins and Allen roads
- Turn lanes added to the intersections of Collins Road with Allen Road and Graham Road
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