Orange council approves EDC incentives and sales-tax rebate for Project Capstone, reviews EDC finances

The Orange City Council on July 22 approved Economic Development Corporation actions to support a large retail development the EDC identified as Project Capstone and acknowledged recent EDC financial and investment reports. The move followed a public EDC hearing earlier the same evening and came to the council as a formal ratification of EDC action. The nut graf: Council members voted to authorize an EDC incentive not to exceed $2,000,000 for eligible infrastructure improvements at a roughly 40–43 acre land assembly near IH-10 West at MLK Drive and approved a sales-tax rebate equal to 33% of sales tax generated at the site for a 10-year period, while city staff presented summaries of the EDC’s reserves and investment balances. Jay Trahan, identified in the meeting as the presenting staff member, described the preliminary site plan as covering roughly 40–43 acres with access from MLK Drive, Tejas Parkway and frontage-road curb cuts. "It's a work in progress at this point in terms of the development team working to move it forward," Trahan said. Miss Salter, Mister Chandler, Mister Birch, Mister Mortimer, Mister Charles and Miss McKenna voted in favor when the council moved to approve the EDC actions. The motion passed. During the same portion of the meeting, Finance staff reported on the EDC's finances and the corporation's investment holdings. Miss Zito told council members the EDC had roughly $2,700,000 in reserves and that the EDC's broader investment position included cash and CDs. She also presented the city's quarterly investment report, noting the city had a little over $42,000,000 on deposit and an average return of 3.94% compared with a six-month U.S. Treasury benchmark of about 4.1%. Council members spoke in support. "Can't wait to see it started," one council member said after the presentation. No council member spoke against the actions on the record. Ending: The EDC incentives and rebate now move forward under the terms approved by the council. Council members and staff said they expect future updates as the project’s site plan and developer commitments progress. No additional conditions or implementation dates were announced at the meeting.