By Alan Johnson, EDC/IDB Board Member
Economic Development Commission
The EDC (Economic Development Commission) meeting met May 23rd and began with updates from Shane Horn, city manager and Dexter Muller, economic development consultant for the City. Contracts have been executed with the bank and developer for a site at the Northeast corner of U.S. Highway 64 and Canada Road. The site wraps behind the Walgreens and McDonald’s and has frontage on both Hwy 64 and Canada Road. Three retail outparcels will be available, and two are already committed depending upon approval of the site planned development.
Story Point Senior Living is considering three Lakeland locations for a $30 million project that would generate between $150,000 -$225,000 in tax revenues. The project would require about 10-12 acres and consist of approximately 160 living units.
The development contract for Lakeland Commons was approved and civil engineering plans are complete. Infrastructure construction should begin within 30 days and will require approximately four to six months. Vertical construction will begin directly following.
Infrastructure construction is underway on The Lake District, and vertical construction should begin in September 2019. An additional 21,000 square feet of retail has been added to Phase 1 and plans for Phase 2 will be unveiled Thursday (6.6.19).
Discussions have also begun on two other key sites in Lakeland. A hotel and restaurants are being considered for the Southeast corner at the intersection of I-40 and Highway 64, next to LA fitness. And, a preliminary site plan for a mixed-use development is being worked on for the property at the corner of Davies Plantation and Canada Road, where the paint ball fields current exist.
Invitations have been sent to 18 potential participants in the Lakeland Development Code Summit. The list includes City officials, local developers, local engineers and other relevant parties. The Summit will consist of six monthly meetings of the stakeholders with the objective of developing strict but less-cumbersome codes and more efficient processes. Previously established codes and processes have been an ongoing complaint of developers considering and/or conducting business in Lakeland for years.
Brittney Buchanan, executive director of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce announced several upcoming ribbon-cutting events; Brinks and White Pediatric Dental Associates Monday (6.3.19), Smoothie King on July 1, and Cannon Chiropractic and Groome and Company Realtors to be announced soon. AutoZone Park hosted a Lakeland Community Redbirds outing last night (5.31.19).
Mrs. Buchanan also reported that the St. Jude Dream Home in Winstead Farms has begun open houses that will occur every weekend until the giveaway on June 23. Tickets for a chance to win the home with an estimated value of $475,000 are currently on sale, and attendance of the open houses and ticket sales are already setting new records for the program. Susan Aguillard, M.D., chairperson for the Program, recently commended the City of Lakeland for its generous and enthusiastic support at a recent Open House Event.
Board member Alan Johnson presented a new improved strategy and structure for the City’s three websites. Next steps for the initiative include: Updating the branding, layout and functionality of the lakelandtn.gov website; further content development for the comediscoverlakeland.com website; and cross-integration of those two websites with the mylakelandchamber.org website. A strategy to promote the comediscoverlakeland.com website was discussed and further development and utilization of the Come Discover Lakeland video was considered.
Vice Chairman Jeremy Burnett proposed that the EDC should consider an update to the 2016 Lakeland Retail Gap Analysis. The idea received unanimous support and Mr. Horn agreed to contact the prior consultant for a cost estimate. The Retail Gap Analysis explores various retail sectors and compares the total dollar amounts spent by Lakeland residents versus the dollar amounts for these products spent outside of the City. The analysis reveals opportunities/needs for retail sectors in Lakeland and thus opportunities for Lakeland to retain and attract more sales taxes. The analysis is also a helpful tool in the recruitment of new retail businesses and commercial developments.
Industrial Development Board
The IDB meeting included one agenda item, the selection of a consultant to provide construction engineering and inspection services for eligible Tax Increment Financing (TIF) expenses for Lakeland Commons. A large packet of information, including qualifications, previous experience, insurance details and project proposals was given to the Board Members for review prior to the meeting. The packet also included a scoring grid for the four prospective vendors.
City Engineer Emily Harrell began the discussion by reviewing the information and explaining both the City’s and her experience with each vendor.
After a considerable discussion of the four vendors and their previous projects, A2H was decided upon as the vendor, by unanimous decision. Because of a previous business-to-business relationship with one of the vendors, Board Member Shaun Brannen recused himself from the vote due to a possible conflict of interest.
