By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer
CHELSEA
– On a night with a lot of major items of business taking place in Chelsea, the Chelsea City Council took another step in the direction of a major project potentially coming to the city.
During a regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, June 17, the council unanimously approved a resolution which approves and begins the execution of an economic tax incentive agreement with Bash & Co. LLC for the Chelsea Plaza just off of U.S. Highway 280.
The Chelsea Plaza will be a retail center that is planned to sit off of the eastbound side of Hwy 280 near the intersection of Chesser Plantation Lane and the highway, hosting numerous businesses and restaurants.
In his statement of what the project of the Chelsea Plaza will be, Chelsea mayor Tony Picklesimer explained how the development will become a major benefit to the city once it is complete.
“This project will bring new major retail and restaurant businesses to Chelsea along with creation of a significant number of jobs,” Picklesimer said. “Immediate additional cash flow to the city would begin as soon as retail operations commence. This is projected as early as 2028 based on the developer projections.”
The plaza will consist of 14 1/2 acres of land with 16 retail and commercial units ranging anywhere from 1,000 to 20,000 square feet.
Picklesimer also said that as a result, the city will not assume any ongoing financial risk and any upfront immediate cost and that the city’s borrowing capacity, ratings and budgets will not be impacted in any way.
When creating this economic development agreement, the developer, Moiz Fouladbakhsh, provided a pro forma to the city, which a preliminary financial statement that projects a company’s, or in this case a development’s performance outcome under a certain set of circumstances that are hypothetical.
The city of Chelsea then asked Chief Financial Officer Wayne Barber to develop three analyses under three different performance levels of the development.
It was reported that if the project produces 100 percent of the projections, the incentive would be paid off in 11 1/2, with the city receiving after payment more than $49 million. With 80 percent projections, the package would pay off in 13 1/2 years, and Chelsea would receive around $35 million. The last analysis was done at 60 percent, which sees the incentive being completed in 17 1/2 years and the city receiving more than $20 million.
If fully passed through all the steps of the planning process, the $75 million development, according to Picklesimer, is set to be the largest single development in the history of Chelsea.
In addition to the approval of the incentive package, the city also approved resolutions to adopt a debt management policy and investment policy for the city.
Chelsea also approved a resolution authorizing Picklesimer to execute a Spectrum Enterprise service agreement at the Chelsea Community Center due to the need for fiber internet.
The city voiced a unanimous approval of a resolution to accept responsibility of the maintenance of Chelsea Pointe Access Drive, which intersects Old Highway 280.
Another resolution was also carried to authorize the closure of a certificate of deposit and money market account to deposit funds into the city’s repo account at Renasant Bank.
In addition, the Chelsea City Council also approved the annexation of three properties during the meeting.
Two ordinances were passed in full, annexing property for Chuck Kitchens of Builder Systems LLC at 3613 Highway 39 and RESICAP Alabama Owner LLC’s property located at 4107 Forest Lakes Road.
Half of the property submitted by Vincent Cabot Hodges Jr. at 3350 River Birch Trail was approved during the meeting due to it having half of the land in Chelsea, while the other half borders Pelham.
