The Allen City Council will be considering approval of a Project Development Agreement to incentivize the construction of infrastructure for the 80-acre mixed use project located at the southwest corner of Alma Drive and SH 121. This project is planned to include over 1 million square feet of office space at full build out, as well as retail, restaurant, hotel space and a Central Plaza.
This Project Development Agreement requires Thakkar Development Group to construct Phase 1 of the Project, which includes a minimum of 125,000-square feet of office space and 50,500-square feet of retail/restaurant space, as well as a Central Plaza and defined infrastructure (roads, utilities, drainage, detention, etc.). The developer must commence construction on the infrastructure by June 30, 2021, and complete the infrastructure project by December 31, 2022. They must complete the office and retail space by December 31, 2023.
The City of Allen is not contributing cash funds to the project. Rather, the incentive is funded by issuing Certificate of Obligation (CO) Bonds. Since CO Bonds are being used, the developer will be required to abide by certain competitive bidding requirements stipulated by State law.
Thakkar Development Group anticipates spending $19.5 million on the total Phase 1 Infrastructure for the project. The City of Allen would use CO Bonds to fund only the public portion of that infrastructure in an amount equal to 30% of the total infrastructure cost (not to exceed the lesser of $5.9 million and 100% of the total costs for the public infrastructure for Phase 1). The remaining public and private infrastructure expense will be paid by the developer.
As a separate component of the project, the AEDC Board of Directors recently approved an Infrastructure Reimbursement Agreement to provide up to $4.5 million through the issuance of Sales Tax Revenue Bonds to reimburse the developer for private infrastructure. As a requirement of that agreement, the developer must construct a 600-car parking garage with an approximate investment of $9 million, as well as the office and retail space required for Phase 1 of the Project (as defined above). The Developer is required to grant a perpetual easement to the City for public parking in the parking garage. The City of Allen would reimburse the AEDC for the cost of annual debt service for this project through a separate agreement that will be brought to the Council at a future meeting.