Orange County NC Website
2 <br /> 1 will move forward with other staff members to develop the first draft policy documents for further <br /> 2 review. <br /> 3 Steve Brantley and Dwight Bassett reviewed the Chapel Hill and Orange County <br /> 4 Incentive Policy Worksheet, found in attachment 1A. <br /> 5 Mayor Hemminger said staff has been attending different economic development <br /> 6 outreaches in and around the research triangle area. She said there is growing economic influx <br /> 7 into this region that can be tapped into. <br /> 8 Mayor Hemminger said there are companies in Chapel Hill that want to grow and <br /> 9 expand, but there is no space available. <br /> 10 Chair McKee said there is UNC Launch, but there should be a framework for those <br /> 11 companies that are outgrowing the Launch facilities. <br /> 12 Steve Brantley said when he and Dwight Bassett have met in recent months, they have <br /> 13 considered if there were incentives, and asked what are they looking to get out of these <br /> 14 incentives. He said they also talked about how to fund incentives. <br /> 15 Steve Brantley said the types of possible projects are a myriad of mixed-use re- <br /> 16 development areas, large single purpose uses, as well as moderate and small-scale businesses <br /> 17 and start-ups. <br /> 18 Steve Brantley referred to synthetic tax increment financing and said there are examples <br /> 19 of this being used across North Carolina. He said the basic concept is that the net new <br /> 20 property tax values that spin off from such projects goes into the repayment of the synthetic tax <br /> 21 increment financing. <br /> 22 Steve Brantley said a second area could be a performance agreement that outlines <br /> 23 what is agreed upon. <br /> 24 Steve Brantley said there are projects that could require a State of North Carolina <br /> 25 matching fund. He gave an example. <br /> 26 Steve Brantley said smaller companies may represent a more marginal net new property <br /> 27 tax value. He referred to Attachment la to highlight the various options the County could <br /> 28 pursue. <br /> 29 Council Member Parker said there are two primary areas in which the Council has <br /> 30 expressed an interest, the first of which is making Orange County and Chapel Hill an innovation <br /> 31 community. He said the other priority is an inventory of spaces. He said either inventory needs <br /> 32 to be created, or at least have specs for new inventory. He said the largest need seems to be <br /> 33 job expansion and job creation. <br /> 34 Council Member Palmer asked if spaces, such as industrial innovation zones, should be <br /> 35 built in order to get ahead of the curve. <br /> 36 Dwight Bassett said the market is not driving office space. He said retail is at a 6% <br /> 37 vacancy and only two thirds of the market potential is being captured. <br /> 38 Mayor Hemminger said whatever happens in Orange County benefits Chapel Hill, and <br /> 39 vice versa. She said she was hoping Orange County would help the Town get the Eubanks <br /> 40 Road area off the ground, and asked if there is an appropriate time to have those <br /> 41 conversations. <br /> 42 Chair McKee said the County would also like to be partners, and he hoped that some <br /> 43 directions could be framed on a few of these items. <br /> 44 Council Member Oates said she has heard from developers that it is difficult to get <br /> 45 lenders to give funding to spec office space. <br /> 46 Dwight Bassett said that is one of the barriers that is being faced on many projects. He <br /> 47 said it is a matter of showing developers that the tenants will come if the spaces are built. <br /> 48 Commissioner Price referred to the analysis of the current space, and asked if it would <br /> 49 be wise to get ahead of the curve in terms of the types of spaces needed versus what currently <br /> 50 exists. <br />