City, county set hearings for new shell building funding proposal
Dec. 8—The Lee County Board of Commissioners and the Sanford City Council will hold public hearings on consecutive nights to hear comments regarding a proposal from each for funding of a new shell building in Central Carolina Enterprise Park.
The commissioners' hearing is set for Dec. 19 followed by City Council's on Dec. 20, according to legal notice of the action.
The city and county boards are proposing to lease the shell building from Lee County Growth VI LLC, a limited liability corporation whose registered agent is Sanford businessman Kirk J. Bradley.
Lee County Growth is planning to build a 117,133 square-foot shell building in CCEP at a cost of $10.2 million, the notice says.
"The shell building will be used to entice new businesses to come to Sanford/Lee County or to relocate of expand in Sanford/Lee County, for site visits and events, to market Sanford and Lee County as a whole, until it is sold to an end user," the notice says.
"The project will increase the tax base, stimulate the local economy, create jobs, encourage business and industry to locate in the County, and will promote business in the County."
The agreement calls for the city and county to lease the building for up to two years, the notice said. Monthly payments for the first 12 months are $28,381.88 for a total cost of $340,582.50 for the year.
With the beginning of the second year, the monthly payments would increase to $32,791.17 or a total of $393,494 for the year.
Funding is to be provided through the General Funds of the city and county, the notice said.
The county commissioners meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Dennis Wicker Civic Center while the Sanford City Council hearing is set for 6 p.m. in council chambers at 225 E. Weatherspoon St.
