Kennesaw council hears debate over proposed 15-year incentives, $70,000 annual payment for Lacey 2 development

City staff presented a preliminary incentive application for the Lacey 2 development and described a proposed financing structure that would span 15 years and provide the Kennesaw Downtown Development Authority with a $70,000 annual administrative payment.

The project team and staff told the council the Lacey 2 package would be structured similarly to a prior deal across the street but with three differences: it would run 15 years (not 10), include an administrative payment to the KDDA of $70,000 per year, and create pilot payments tied to new value. A city staff member said the $70,000 annual payment would total “over a million dollars” across the 15‑year term and that the money is intended for downtown investment, including property acquisition or debt service.

The proposal prompted several council members to press staff on the term length. One councilmember said the incentives “came out of left field” and that, had they known the full incentive package in advance, they might not have supported approving zoning. That councilmember suggested reducing the term to 10 years, noting the council had used a 10‑year term for an earlier project across the street.

Another councilmember argued the project is more complex than the earlier deal and cited environmental remediation, high land acquisition costs and approximately $1.5 million in road improvements as reasons the developer requested the larger package. The city staff member said the parcels currently generate about $25,000 in annual tax revenue split among city, county and schools; under the pilot structure the KDDA would receive a portion and also the separate $70,000 administrative payment each year.

Staff said the developer was open to shorter terms than 15 years but that reducing the term would lower or eliminate the multi‑year cash infusion to downtown the KDDA hopes to use for redevelopment. No final council vote occurred; city staff said a KDDA meeting is scheduled for April 7 to review the incentive application and that the item remains under review.

Council members asked staff to continue negotiating and to return with clearer figures showing tradeoffs between term length and downtown cash flow.

The item is informational and no formal council action adopting incentives was recorded at the March 31 work session. The KDDA and future council actions will determine the final structure and any formal abatement or pilot agreement.