WILSON, Pa. — A firm that wants to redevelop the Dixie Cup building made a presentation to Wilson Area School Board on Monday as part of a push for a property tax break to help fund the project.
Skyline Investment Group, headed by principal Brian Bartee, offered $2.6 million in combined up-front “cash contributions” to the three municipalities if the project goes forward.
The company plans to transform the existing building into a 405-unit apartment complex, complete with a dog-friendly bar/lounge, a public park and a fiberglass replica of the site’s famous giant cup.
To help fund the project, Skyline is asking the three government bodies that levy property taxes on the site — Wilson, Wilson Area School District and Northampton County — to support the project with a tax increment financing district.
If approved, the TIF district would let the developer use future property taxes to help finance redevelopment.
First, Skyline would take out a loan roughly equivalent to 20 years of estimated property taxes on the completed apartment complex, funded through a bond.
'A proposal'
Over the life of the loan, the company would effectively pay most of its tax bill to creditors instead of the three municipal bodies that would ordinarily receive the money.
Property taxes on the value of the underlying land, however, still would be due to the municipalities.
“I'm looking to be a partner and set Wilson Borough up to make as much money, and I want to help the community as much as I can within the confines of what I can do.”Skyline Investment Group principal Brian Bartee
At previous meetings, representatives for Skyline told officials that without TIF funding, the project would not be economically feasible.
To sweeten the deal, the developer offered up-front payments of $1 million to the school district, $500,000 to the borough and $1.1 million to the county.
“You can look at the $1 million as a proposal,” school district solicitor Don Spry advised board members Monday. “That has not been accepted. Not saying that it’s not going to be, but that’s not been decided.”
Bartee said, “I'm looking to be a partner and set Wilson Borough up to make as much money, and I want to help the community as much as I can within the confines of what I can do.”
The school board will vote on the proposed TIF benefits at its Aug. 12 meeting. Northampton County, the final government body to approve the financing plan, can't vote on its part until October at the earliest.
Wider plans
Bartee hinted at a larger vision for the site and several surrounding lots he owns once the current redevelopment project is completed.
A parking lot he owns near the building eventually would hold a parking garage that also would include new apartment units, he said.
He said he also has plans for former Kmart and LA Fitness properties, now vacant, next to the Dixie Cup factory should their owners decide to sell. So far, they've not been interested, Bartee said.
“If I can get those other three lots, I mean, Wilson Borough, it is going to be a rocket ship," he said. "I don't really want to get into my vision too much, but point is, it's going to be a rocket ship."
Still deciding
Some board members said they need more information before making a decision.
Jonathan Jones, a board member representing Williams Township, said he was concerned that the apartments could bring new families with school-age kids into the district, without the usual property taxes to help pay for their education.
“My biggest fear is that they just come in and leave, basically. Best case is that they become a fixture in our community. I would hate to see this beautiful building come in and everything else around it kind of not improve.”Wilson Area School Board member Maggie Hall
Claudia Robinson, a consultant for Skyline Investment, said that only about 3% of their apartments would house families with kids, citing research from Greystone Property Management.
“I think it’s a great project," Jones said after the meeting. "I don’t know that I see the numbers the same way that everyone else does. We’re all in support of the project. Our responsibility is to be good stewards."
Board Vice President Janis Krieger said, “I think they agree that it was not handled the right way, that the county came in first” and secured their payment before the borough and school district.
Krieger said that whatever payments Skyline offers to the municipalities need to be “equitable.”
Though the county collects a smaller share of property taxes than the borough or the school district, it secured the largest up-front payment, earmarked for affordable housing.
“My biggest fear is that they just come in and leave, basically,” board member Maggie Hall said of the developer. “Best case is that they become a fixture in our community.
"I would hate to see this beautiful building come in and everything else around it kind of not improve.”
