No Fix for Hicks

The nut of the issue lay in Pensacola City Councilman P.C. Wu’s primary reason for not wanting to tinker too much with the city’s efforts to sell a piece of Government Street property.

“Because Mr. Hicks has worked on this project for an awful, awful long time,” Wu explained, as council members met Monday in their role as the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Such rationale was pretty much Council President Charles Bare’s beef with the city’s
Invitation for Proposals for disposition and redevelopment of 120 W. Government St.

“What we’re doing is limiting the competition for Mr. Hicks,” Bare argued, wondering aloud if the move was illegal.

For years the city has been working with Mike Hicks, CEO of Hixardt Technologies, Inc., toward handing off the Government Street property — a surface parking lot — on which Hixardt plans to expand to the tune of a new headquarters and the creation of 100 new technology jobs.

In 2011 the CRA approved an Economic Development and Property Disposition Agreement with the company, but over the years the agreement required amending of its closing and financing deadlines and this past April that agreement was cancelled.

Now, Hicks — following some shifts in his business dynamics and new financing options — is seeking to move forward with his project. He has informed the city he intends to purchase the 120 W. Government St. property for the current market value, to be determined by an appraisal.

But on Monday, some CRA members took issue with a particular provision listed in the proposed property listing which noted that “no E-date tax abatement or other local incentives may be applied for.” They contended that such a provision, while suiting Hicks, who apparently doesn’t intend to request an EDATE, could also serve to limit the potential pool of bidders.

Bare summed up the complaint, describing the invitation’s language as “a little too limiting” and “a little bit too complementary or accommodating to Mr. Hicks.”

He also expressed concerns over Hicks’s financing of choice — “when you start looking at New Market Tax Credits I get a little leery, because nothing is set in stone” — and suggested that nixing the no-EDATE provision could bring a more appealing offer to the table.

Most CRA members didn’t seem to get too hung up on the EDATE issue. Jewell Cannada-Wynn described the item as “not a complicated issue.”

Only CRA member Sherri Myers joined Bare in opposing the proposed Invitation for Proposals containing the no-EDATE provision, but as two council members were absent it was enough to throw the vote.

Following the failure of that proposal, the council reconsidered after removing the no-EDATE provision. That measure passed unanimously.

“I think just removing this one sentence is advisable and it won’t hurt anything to remove it,” said Myers.

The change means that potential buyers can now factor the financial savings of the property-tax exemption into their math. It means that Mr. Hicks could potentially have some new competition for the property.

If no other interested parties arise, Hicks will be looking at paying market value for the .66 acres. In 2012 it was appraised at $565,000, though a new appraisal would be conducted pre-sale.

On a side note, Downtown Improvement Board Executive Director Ron Butlin addressed the CRA board Monday in regards to the Government Street property’s current use as a parking lot for about 80 downtown employees. He said he looks forward to working with the CRA in locating new spaces.

“So, with that, just be prepared,” Butlin said, “we’ll come back to you.”