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Mesa council OKs designation for Proving Grounds
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The Mesa City Council approved Monday the designation of redevelopment area for the 3,200-acre Mesa Proving Grounds.
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That means the developers of two major resorts and a convention center will get an additional $7 million in property tax breaks, for a total of $85.5 million. The property is owned by DMB Associates of Scottsdale.
The resolution, which accepts existence of ‘slum and blight’ conditions on the property, needed six out of seven votes, per state statute, to pass. It was on the consent agenda, which is often approved without discussion, and the vote was unanimous.
DMB had commissioned a third-party study, which found that the property, located near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, met the state’s requirements for that title because of asbestos-laden buildings and other environmental conditions.
The property tax break comes in the form of the Government Property Lease Excise Tax, or GPLET. Under GPLET, municipalities take title to a piece of property, then lease it back to developers, who in turn can pay an alternative tax in lieu of property tax.
The redevelopment designation allows the developer to pay a lower GPLET rate.
In September, Mesa announced the $136.5 million tax-incentive agreement, which includes a bed tax incentive that’s up for a public vote in March. Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Co. plans to build a minimum 1,200-room hotel and convention center, similar to the company’s high-profile properties in Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C.
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