Three of the four Fort Wayne companies found noncompliant with their tax abatement requirements last month were allowed to keep their breaks for another year.
The City Council on Tuesday voted to keep abatements in place for North American Van Lines, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions and Peg Perego. An abatement for a piece of property owned by Silverado Properties LLC was revoked Tuesday for failing to meet the job-creation requirements outlined in the original agreement.
Under its original abatement agreement with the city, Silverado’s development, a 45,500-square-foot building geared toward industrial and distribution companies at 8414 Clinton Park Drive, was supposed to create at least 95 new jobs once the building was leased to a tenant. The abatement was awarded in 2007.
“We went two or three years with a vacant building, we leased the building to Group Delphi, who grew out of it since then and expanded in the county and went to a 200,000-square-foot building, so now we have a vacant building again,” Silverado Properties’ Andy Norton said. “It’s available for lease, we’re showing it probably two or three times a week.”
Norton said he wasn’t sure when a new tenant would be found but estimated that one could be found within the next three months.
To keep a tax abatement once it is awarded, companies must be able to demonstrate they were able to substantially meet the staffing and payroll goals submitted to secure the abatement award in the first place. To substantially meet those requirements, companies must demonstrate they have reached 75 percent of those goals.