After a year of wait-and-see, city staff are still not in favour of offering a tax exemption to future tenants of light industrial land.
A representative for the Prince George Global Logistics Park, the 1,200 hectares west of the Prince George Airport, came before city council last May looking for a tax exemption bylaw to help draw development to the area.
But council opted to defer the decision for a year to give the matter some breathing room and allow time to test the market waters, especially given that Boundary Road was not yet complete at the time.
According to a staff report prepared for tonight's council meeting, sales of vacant light industrial land have been steady since 2010 with 16 acres of light industrial land currently listed (not including the airport lands).
There were 13 industrial building permits issued in the city in 2013, valued at more than $17 million. This was down from the $35 million in industrial building permits issued in 2012. The year-to-date value for 2014 is $5 million.
"The data presented suggests the industrial marketplace in Prince George is currently very active," said the report. "Anecdotal evidence from discussions with landowners, owner-operators, developers, and real estate agents further support the evidence, as there is considerable interest in the industrial marketplace from both local and external participants."
These factors point to there not being a need to prop up light industrial developments and "given that the Prince George Global Logistics Park is primarily owned by one land owner [Henry Rempel], administration does not support the proposal to exempt this area from taxes to the exclusion of other light industrial areas," the report said.
