- April 19, 2024
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Pending a final vote, city staff will send out requests for letters of intent to private land owners to see if developing a business park partnership could promote job creation.
With job creation on the mind of local governments, the city of Palm Coast is discussing a plan to work with landowners to enhance the city’s availability of shovel-ready and pad-ready sites.
At the Tuesday, April 26, City Council workshop, Beau Falgout, the city’s senior economic development planner, said the city constantly struggles with a lack of pad-ready and shovel-ready sites to show to developers.
“The competition is fierce among the communities to attract those employers,” Falgout said Tuesday.
If there is sufficient interest among the private sector, the city hopes to partner with local businesses to develop a business park.
According to Falgout’s presentation, there are four levels of readiness at the city level.
Raw land is the least desirable for prospective companies, Falgout said, adding that it has the highest risk in meeting a start-up schedule. The land could take one to two years before construction of a building could take place. The estimated time until occupancy is two to three years and the upfront development cost is minimal.
Shovel-ready sites are identified as sites for which basic studies have been completed and the time until occupancy is about one year. Upfront development cost is moderate, according to the presentation.
A pad-ready site is one for which the road is in place, the site is graded, utilities run to the site curb, and all preliminary approvals have been received. Building can begin typically within six to nine months, depending on the design, and the upfront development cost is moderate to major.
Spec building, the most pricey of the four, is the highest level of readiness. Typically, a minor build-out of a shell building is the only remaining step before a business can move into the building. At this stage, time until occupancy is less than three months.
So, Falgout asked the question: “How do we bridge the gap of having more sites ready ... without going to the extent of the spec building, because the investment is significant and the risk is also significant?
“These are questions that we really need (answered) in working with property owners,” Falgout said.
The specific districts discussed were Hargrove, the airport area, Pine Lakes and Roberts Road.
City Council member Frank Meeker said he liked the idea of the partnership, specifically pointing out that he likes the reduced risk.
“We have too many benefits we can pass on to ourselves to lower our costs,” Meeker said.
The next step in the process is to release the request for letters of interest, which will be sent to landowners.
The City Council will formally vote on releasing the request at the Tuesday, May 3, regular meeting.
Contact Andrew O’Brien at [email protected].
