La Placita $42M Redevelopment Gets the Nod from City of Tucson

La Placita Rendering of new mixed-use project

La Placita Plans will double the number of market rate rental units in downtown since 2013

TUCSON, Arizona — The Mayor and Tucson City Council Tuesday heard results of Phoenix-based, Applied Economics, the independent financial and economic analysis retained by the City of Tucson to perform an economic impact analysis of the proposed La Placita Village demolition and redevelopment.

The Council directed staff on Tuesday to draft a GPLET (Government Property Lease Excise Tax) lease agreement with HSL La Placita Apartments LLC. The lease agreement will then be scheduled for adoption by Mayor and Council at a future date. The analysis shows the benefit to the City of Tucson, Pima County, the State of Arizona, and local schools would outweigh the benefit to the developer during the GPLET’s eight-year property tax abatement. State law requires that a municipality can only enter into a lease agreement for a GPLET if the total benefit to governments and schools is larger than the benefit to the developer.

La Placita would also be eligible for a construction sales tax reimbursement and a permit fee waiver through the Downtown Financial Incentive District according to the Applied Economics report.

The proposed mixed-use development would include 246 market rate apartments ranging from studios to four bedroom units in 336,305-sqaure-feet, 6,393-square-feet of restaurant space, a 2,657-square-foot stable and 104,470-square-feet of underground parking.  It is anticipated that the renovated Flin Building would be occupied by a coffee shop and the Samaniego House would be occupied by a sit-down restaurant. Taxable sales from the restaurants are estimated at $3.1 million per year including taxes on the leases.  There would also be taxable parking rentals at $306,000 per year.  All total, the project could support an estimated 50 new jobs and 350 residents.

The estimated construction cost for this project would be $42.2 million, including $30.4 million in hard costs, $8.1 million in soft costs, and $3.7 million in other fees.  About 240 direct jobs and close to 200 additional indirect jobs could be supported in the City of Tucson during the construction period.  The total construction impact is estimated at $66.0 million over approximately 28 months.

The construction of this transit-oriented mixed use project in Downtown Tucson would provide significant economic benefits within the neighborhood surrounding the Tucson Convention Center.  The proposed residential units and restaurants will complement the other planned development in the area, and will help to create demand for additional retail in the western portion of downtown.

Once completed, the project could generate an annual economic impact of $3.5 million, or a total of $25.4 million over the next eight years, assuming a partial year of operation in 2018.

The proposed La Placita mixed-use project creates both economic and revenue benefits for the City of Tucson.  The development would generate new jobs and payroll in the downtown area, and it would create additional demand at other local businesses based on supplier purchases and employee spending.  It would also generate tax revenues for the city on an on-going basis.

To see the full report Click Here.