Development Authority Approves Taxable Revenue Bond for Equifax Expansion in Alpharetta

The Development Authority of Alpharetta voted 6-0 to approve a taxable revenue bond resolution to support Equifax’s renovation of the JVW 1 building at 1505 Windward Concourse, the authority announced at its meeting. The resolution authorizes the authority’s chair to execute all documents necessary for the bond issuance.

The bond supports an Equifax plan to convert the third floor of the JVW 1 building from data-center space to workspace for the company’s corporate technology team. Charlie, an economic development staff member who introduced the item, said the project “will create approximately 244 new jobs and include a $25,000,000 capital investment in the renovations to the JVW 1 Building, improvements to the on-site parking deck, as well as purchasing of new furniture and equipment.”

Why it matters: the authority will issue taxable revenue bonds and provide a leasehold tax incentive only for the subdivided parcel that contains the renovated JVW 1 building; the adjoining parcel and its building will remain fully on the tax rolls. Charlie said Equifax subdivided the existing 17-acre site into a roughly 10-acre parcel that includes JVW 1 and a separate 7-acre parcel that includes JVW 2 and the adjacent parking deck, and only the JVW 1 parcel will be subject to the bond issuance and the associated tax incentive.

Authority staff and counsel told members the authority bears no exposure from the transaction. Woody Bond, appearing as bond counsel, described the transaction as familiar to prior leasehold arrangements the authority has done, saying in part, “This is the form of a lease that you all have done a number of times. No material changes to the lease.” Woody also noted the subdivision step had been requested earlier to ensure the larger building that will remain on the tax rolls was not part of the incentive.

Officials said the authority sized the bond at about $37,000,000 based on an anticipated appraisal that took into account current price-per-acre, existing buildings, and the planned renovations. The authority also described the incentive schedule that will apply to the parcel subject to the bond: a 10-year ramp-down that begins with a 50% break in year one and reduces by roughly 5 percentage points each year until taxes are fully assessed in year 10. Charlie said estimates of future assessments will be performed by the county board of assessors when the new tax parcel is created.

Action taken: a board member moved to pass the bond resolution authorizing the chair to execute necessary documents; Morgan seconded. The electronic vote showed six in favor, none opposed. The motion passed, and the chair was authorized to execute the documents related to the bond issuance.

Next steps: staff will complete bond-closing paperwork and coordinate with counsel, county assessors and Equifax on parcel subdivision, document execution, and incentive implementation. Equifax representatives were present at the meeting and available to answer questions but no additional conditions were imposed at the meeting.