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Council approves economic development agreement with AUDAX Enterprises for Williamsburg Shopping Center incentives
Summary
The council approved a development agreement with AUDAX Enterprises providing five annual ad valorem tax grants for vacant space and three annual sales tax grants to incentivize new retail at the Williamsburg Shopping Center; property tax grants were estimated at about $1,390 annually based on current values.
The Paris City Council voted 7-0 to approve an economic development agreement with AUDAX Enterprises (spelled variously in the transcript as AUDAX/AUDEX) for the Williamsburg Shopping Center on Clarksville Street.
City staff described the agreement as a package of incentives to help lease nine vacant spaces in the shopping center. The property portion of the agreement provides five annual ad valorem tax grants for 2024 through 2028. Each grant was described as 18 percent of total maintenance-and-operations (M&O) ad valorem taxes assessed for the property, based on the vacant vertical square footage; staff said that calculation yields an approximate grant amount of $1,390 per year under current taxable values.
The agreement also includes a sales tax incentive: three annual grants (for 2024, 2025 and 2026) equal to 50 percent of sales tax receipts attributable to new retail tenants. Staff noted that projected sales-tax revenue is unknown because tenants have not been secured; the sales-tax grants therefore represent a share of future, currently nonexistent tax receipts.
Staff recommended the agreement and council approved it by unanimous vote. The meeting transcript does not include a formal contract or ordinance number. Council did not record additional conditions or performance covenant details beyond those summarized by staff during the presentation.
