Johnson County OKs tax abatement for Paris Baguette USA; company to build large Burleson bakery‑manufacturing facility

The Johnson County Commissioners Court unanimously approved an order and a corresponding tax‑abatement agreement on Jan. 27 to support Paris Baguette USA’s planned manufacturing and distribution facility in the City of Burleson.

Diana Miller, Johnson County’s contract head of economic development and director of the Johnson County Economic Development Commission, told the court the Texas project will be the company’s first U.S. manufacturing/distribution site and will be built in two phases totaling as much as 267,000 square feet. "They will be creating 450 new jobs in Johnson County," Miller said, and the total capital investment for phases 1 and 2 is currently estimated at about $165 million.

The city of Burleson and its economic development team assembled the local package that led the company to the community. Alex Phillips, Burleson’s economic development director, and city staff helped structure incentives that, together with county participation, were part of the application response to a state RFP, Miller said. Paris Baguette’s U.S. leadership team attended the meeting; representatives included executives identified in the record as Jin Soo He (SPC Group president and Paris Baguette director) and company officers who participated in negotiations.

County legal staff and tax counsel reviewed the agreement and said it complies with the county’s adopted guidelines and Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code. Bruce Medley, the county’s consulting tax attorney, told the court the proposed abatement is for 50% of the increase in appraised value for 10 years and that other taxing entities (notably school districts) are unaffected by the county’s action. The county attorney and counsel for the company negotiated parallel terms to the city’s agreement, Medley said.

The county’s share of the abatement was estimated in the presentation at roughly $2.1 million over the 10‑year term, based on projected value increases; Miller noted the start date would be the Jan. 1 following issuance of the project’s certificate of occupancy and that depreciation and future tax‑rate changes could alter the final fiscal impact.

Following legal review and public comment in the meeting, Commissioner White moved to approve the order; Commissioner Bailey seconded the motion and the vote was recorded as unanimous. The judge and company representative then signed the agreement at the front podium.

Why it matters: County officials said the project brings new industrial investment and local jobs and that the incentive package — including city and county abatements — was necessary to secure the site from a competitive, statewide RFP process. The court’s action commits the county to a tax‑exemption schedule tied to measurable increases in property value rather than an outright tax‑holiday for existing value.

What’s next: County staff said construction and site closing were imminent and that phase construction could span several years; the city will notify the county when a certificate of occupancy is issued and the abatement term begins.