County approves development projects for Penny taxes, expected to bring nearly 500 jobs
Pinellas County commissioners approved committing grant dollars for three projects to help developers move their projects forward.
On Tuesday, the commissioners approved in a 4 -1 vote to fund three projects for the Employment Sites Program. The program, which started this year, draws on earmarked Penny for Pinellas sales tax funding to provide the grants. The grants are available for developers or businesses that need help to close a funding gap to make a project financially viable.
The shovel-ready projects approved this week include an industrial building in Oldsmar, a manufacturing facility in Largo, and a special type of project in Largo related to the Department of Defense.
The three projects combined would bring roughly 1,000 jobs, which include direct and indirect jobs, and more than 216,000 square feet of new industrial and manufacturing space.
Here’s more on the three projects approved. The information is from Pinellas County records:
Industrial office building in Oldsmar
Cost of project: $15 million; the ask was $908,500
Number of jobs: The project is estimated to create more than 300 direct jobs and 500 ancillary spinoff jobs. The developer said the 300 direct jobs stemming from the project would have an average salary of $60,000 and the ancillary jobs will have an average salary of roughly $35,000.
A rendering of the 130,000-square-foot industrial building in Oldsmar. Pinellas County records.
About: Developer Harod Properties wants to develop a 130,000‐square‐foot industrial building in Oldsmar. The 11.27-acre industrial site at 500 Brooker Creek Blvd. is one of the last undeveloped parcels that will accommodate a building greater than 100,000 square feet in Pinellas County. With the high cost of the land acquisition and given the fact that the site already has the necessary requirements, there needs to be a filler, which will need to be imported at a cost of $908,500. This added cost will make the development financially unfeasible given the market’s current rental rates, according to the developer. The project will be a build‐to‐suit. Harod Properties will commence construction upon receipt of building permits.
Manufacturing facility in Pinellas Park
Cost of project: $7.78 million; the ask was roughly $1.72 million
Number of jobs: A single user of the building is estimated to create 190 jobs
The site plan for CMNY Tranons LLC’s proposed industrial building in Pinellas Park. Pinellas County records.
About: Developer CMNY Tranons LLC wants to develop a new 86,350‐square‐foot industrial building in Pinellas Park. The 12.66-acre industrial land property is located off Belcher Road. The applicant initially planned to construct a 44,000‐square‐foot manufacturing facility. CMNY has two existing industrial projects in Pinellas County that total more than 408,000 square feet of industrial space. The developer says it will begin construction immediately following building permit approval.
A project for the Florida International University to work with the Department of Defense-related companies
Cost of project: $183,655; which is the same amount of funding requested
Number of jobs: The exact amount was not specified.
An image of a SCIF. The photo is from Pinellas County records
About: Florida International University wants to develop a self-contained Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) within its existing space in the National Forensic Science Technology Center at 8285 Bryan Dairy Road in Largo. A SCIF is a U.S. Department of Defense accredited installation where sensitive compartmented information may be stored. The DOD and government contractors use a SCIF to look at information specific to their contract. The National Forensic Science Technology Center at Florida International University believes this location is ideal for the local defense industry sector. It is centrally located in Pinellas County, home to more than 800 defense contractors. The NFSTC’s customer, The United States Special Operations Command, known as USSOCOM and headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, has indicated the need for SCIF space in Pinellas County. The site preferably would be located in or near NFSTC as a satellite of its operations. The proposed site formerly housed Raytheon offices, which had a SCIF in the same location.
