The City of Pensacola may be nearing a deal with an information technology firm proposing to bring 100 jobs and a $4 million investment to downtown.
Since October 2009, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, in cooperation with the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, has been negotiating with a company the city will anonymously label only as "Project Press."
The tech company currently has a Pensacola facility and is looking to expand downtown, according to a September 2009 memo to the city from Charles Wood, the chamber's former senior vice president of economic development.
The City Council — acting as the CRA — at that time authorized CRA staff to begin negotiating "an economic development property incentive agreement" with Project Press for a 0.66-acre CRA-owned property at 120 W. Government St., downtown.
The CRA-owned parcel, currently a metered parking lot, is in the center of the block of Government between Spring and Baylen streets, west of Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union.
Shortly after the CRA's approval to start negotiations, city officials said they were close to getting a similar deal with the company, but nothing became of it.
"I said, whatever was on the table, let's get it back on the table and get some business in Pensacola," Mayor Ashton Hayward said. "My role is to create jobs, and be proactive for taxpayers, and when the city has property where we can be a conduit to do business, we should."
Today, the city is running a legal advertisement in the News Journal as a notice of intent to dispose of the property and is now accepting other proposals for the parcel.
The legal ad states that alternative proposals must include "no less than 30,000 square feet of business or office space, $4 million in capital investment, 100 new full-time employees, and completion of construction within 24 months."
These thresholds are based on the levels of jobs and construction the technology firm has proposed for the CRA site.
The city's legal notice will stand until July 14. After that, the CRA and City Council will be asked to consider any proposals, and if no company has pitched something larger, then Project Press is likely set to get the land.
"I know we are very close to a deal, but there are some things you have to go through before you can close on it," Hayward said.
City officials say they cannot name the company, or get into proprietary information about the company, for legal confidentiality reasons because of state laws that govern how to dispose of CRA property.
"That information we cannot release because it could endanger the project," said CRA Administrator Becky Bray. "We have been working with this company in good faith."The company's customers include private businesses, defense contractors and the federal government, Wood's 2009 memo says.
Since October 2009, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, in cooperation with the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, has been negotiating with a company the city will anonymously label only as "Project Press."
The tech company currently has a Pensacola facility and is looking to expand downtown, according to a September 2009 memo to the city from Charles Wood, the chamber's former senior vice president of economic development.
The City Council — acting as the CRA — at that time authorized CRA staff to begin negotiating "an economic development property incentive agreement" with Project Press for a 0.66-acre CRA-owned property at 120 W. Government St., downtown.
The CRA-owned parcel, currently a metered parking lot, is in the center of the block of Government between Spring and Baylen streets, west of Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union.
Shortly after the CRA's approval to start negotiations, city officials said they were close to getting a similar deal with the company, but nothing became of it.
"I said, whatever was on the table, let's get it back on the table and get some business in Pensacola," Mayor Ashton Hayward said. "My role is to create jobs, and be proactive for taxpayers, and when the city has property where we can be a conduit to do business, we should."
Today, the city is running a legal advertisement in the News Journal as a notice of intent to dispose of the property and is now accepting other proposals for the parcel.
The legal ad states that alternative proposals must include "no less than 30,000 square feet of business or office space, $4 million in capital investment, 100 new full-time employees, and completion of construction within 24 months."
These thresholds are based on the levels of jobs and construction the technology firm has proposed for the CRA site.
The city's legal notice will stand until July 14. After that, the CRA and City Council will be asked to consider any proposals, and if no company has pitched something larger, then Project Press is likely set to get the land.
"I know we are very close to a deal, but there are some things you have to go through before you can close on it," Hayward said.
City officials say they cannot name the company, or get into proprietary information about the company, for legal confidentiality reasons because of state laws that govern how to dispose of CRA property.
"That information we cannot release because it could endanger the project," said CRA Administrator Becky Bray. "We have been working with this company in good faith."The company's customers include private businesses, defense contractors and the federal government, Wood's 2009 memo says.
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