TUCSON, ARIZONA -- Rio Nuevo held a special board meeting today in order to discuss two, time sensitive, downtown revenue generating projects.
New Television Food Episodic Project
In Spring of this year, Rio Nuevo together with Visit Tucson, the City of Tucson, and Pima County worked very hard to attract a new major television production project to the downtown area. Part of the package were incentives provided by Rio Nuevo and it has resulted in attracting interest from other film and television production companies to the area.
“These are big name networks, and this is the right time to highlight Tucson.” – Board Member Edmund Marquez
One of the interested parties is a very well-known television food show. The production company has reached out to Rio Nuevo looking for incentives to bring their show to the downtown Tucson area.
Because of this interest shown in filming in the district, the board voted to create a reserve fund of $500,000 that they can utilize, under the guidance of board members Fletcher McCusker, Edmund Marquez and Jannie Cox, to incentivize film and television production projects. The caveat is that the project must return tax revenue. The dollars they will be using for these incentives are non-tax increment financing (TIF) dollars.
One South Church New Employer
A new firm is looking to move into One South Church Avenue and expects to employ between 30 and 50 people. Due to the fact that downtown parking will come at a cost, this new employer has asked for assistance with parking costs, which could be a barrier to their potential move.
"The community will be surprised when they learn of this company." - Fletcher McCusker
The Rio Nuevo Board approved a motion to offer a parking incentive of $100,000 over 5 years to provide up to 30 parking spaces for the company's employees.
PHOTO: ONE SOUTH CHURCH STREET