Developers of the $1 billion Metrocenter Mall redevelopment project are set to move forward with purchasing the 80-acre site and demolishing most of the buildings by next year.

Florida-based Concord Willshire Capital LLC and TLG Investment Partners and Texas-based Hines received the final approvals needed from the city of Phoenix for a tax incentive agreement, or Government Property Lease Excise Tax treatment, last week.

This means the developers will lease the property from the city for 25 years once it's built and pay an excise tax that's lower than what the property tax would be for the apartment complexes. Right now, the site produces $500,000 in property taxes, while the new development will produce $2.5 million to $3 million annually in excise taxes through the GPLET, said Steve Betts, a consultant for the project who is also a managing director at Holualoa Cos.

"The reason that's important is that trying to redevelop an old mall like this is not for the faint of heart, it is very expensive to be able to demolish and do all of the abatement work and untangle the spaghetti of infrastructure under that existing mall and then be able to put in new infrastructure," Betts told the Business Journal.

To continue reading, click here

By Audrey Jensen - Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal