Council creates Eagletown ERA and preliminarily approves Trailside Business Center abatement

The City Council adopted a declaratory resolution creating the Eagletown Economic Revitalization Area and gave preliminary approval to a real‑property tax abatement for the Trailside Business Center project, the council recorded a 6–0 vote on the motion to adopt.

What the resolution does: staff described the combined action as a twofold step: establish a geographic ERA that includes the parcels proposed for development at roughly 947 West State Road 32 and preliminarily approve a tax‑abatement schedule for I3 Investors LLC to support construction of speculative industrial buildings and public improvements. The confirmatory resolution and a public hearing on the ERA will appear on the council’s next meeting agenda for final action.

Project and timing: Weston Rogers of the Community Development Department described the Trailside Business Center PUD as a roughly 26‑acre, trail‑oriented industrial park that will include a Midland Trace Trail trailhead and public amenities. Claire Gelinas of the Economic Development team outlined a two‑phase plan: phase 1 (west side) was described as approximately 145,700 square feet of speculative industrial buildings with an anticipated real property investment of about $10.5 million, with construction starting April 2026 and completing December 2027. Phase 2 was described in the presentation as the eastern buildings, reported as roughly "182,238" (the transcript contained a formatting error) square feet and an anticipated $13 million in real property investment, with phase 2 scheduled from April 2028 to December 2029. Staff said the applicant will also build trail connections to State Road 32, utility extensions and other site work.

Tax and economic rationale: staff presented a recommended 14% step‑down abatement schedule for both phases and said the project would increase assessed value substantially — staff estimated roughly $21.3 million in assessed value when fully complete, up from about $253,500 in assessed value for the parcels today. The economic development presentation included a model showing how the phasing of abatement affects taxing units; staff noted that the abatement applies only to improvements (real property) and that existing land value remains taxable to local taxing units.

Why staff recommended abatement: staff said the project fills a gap in the local industrial market by adding larger speculative industrial buildings that the city’s market presently has little inventory for, which could attract industry and increase employment. The resolution combines ERA creation and preliminary abatement to streamline processing, staff said.

What the council did: the council adopted Resolution 25‑138 creating the ERA and preliminarily approving the abatement schedule. Staff said a confirmatory resolution and public hearing on the ERA will be scheduled at the next regular meeting, and that final abatement approval will follow standard statutory notice and hearing requirements.

Next steps: staff will process the confirmatory resolution and public hearing, execute the abatement schedule if final approvals follow, and monitor project phasing and traffic improvements as required by the PUD.