Winter Haven officials approved an estimated $3.25 million tax break to bring a bank’s operations center into downtown.
The City commission voted unanimously on May 11 to approved a developer’s agreement offering a 20-year tax increment financing rebate to SouthState Bank’s proposed five-story Class A office building.
“This new downtown office building provides our team with the modern environment they need to continue serving our clients with excellence, while staying in Winter Haven,” John Corbett, CEO of SouthState, said in a statement “There is a unique, vibrant energy in this downtown district. We want our team to be an active part of that atmosphere, and we are thrilled to deepen our presence in a place we call home.”
Proposed SouthState building takes shape
SouthState Bank is partnering with Winter Haven-based developer Six/Then LLC to build a roughly 40,000-square-foot office building at 229 W. Central Ave., which is currently a vacant lot. The banking firm also purchased the neighboring lot at 223 W. Central Ave., which was previously home to the family-run Tex-Mex eatery, El Olivo Mexican Restaurant.
The restaurant owners announced a temporary closure on Facebook in mid-January to find a new home.
Construction of the five-story building is expected to start in July with a 12- to 16-month build time. The building’s features will include an outdoor rooftop patio on the fourth-floor and a proposed elevated pedestrian bridge connection to the existing municipal-owned parking garage.
City Manager T. Michael Stavres said SouthState Bank has not requested to reserve any parking spaces within the existing garage for its employees.
City commissioners asked whether there was a way to incentivize the bank employees to use parking spots on the upper levels, while leaving ground level spaces available for other visitors to downtown.
Stavres said the building that was formerly home to El Olivo will be knocked down and used as an outdoor plaza for SouthState employees.
The project’s total estimated cost is about $17.2 million. It is anticipated to bring 125 full-time workers into Downtown Winter Haven.
“This is a tremendous win for downtown,” Stavres said.
The city manager praised that the project will take a “blighted” space and bring employees downtown that he hopes will eat lunch in downtown restaurants, go shopping and stay after work for evening entertainment.
What is SouthState getting back
Under the development agreement, SouthState Bank has been approved for a 20-year tax increment financing rebate, often called a TIF, where the city refunds a portion of the annual property taxes it pays on the new building.
SouthState Bank will get 90% of all the project’s generated taxes back for the first 10 years, then 60% of its annual property taxes to the city will be refunded in years 11 to 20.
In total, the agreement saves SouthState Bank an estimated to save $3.25 million over the 20-year period.
The city has also agreed to reimburse the developer for its water and wastewater connection fees over a four-year period to a maximum of $484,023.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven approves 20-year tax break for SouthState Bank downtown
Reporting by Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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