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Eustis, FL
– Like most municipalities in the United States, Eustis is faced with decreasing
revenues and commercial activity and heavy competition amongst other cities to
attract and retain businesses.
The City
Commission identified this challenge and recently approved an incentive program
to promote new development that increases the value of property within the City
and provides for additional economic development opportunities.
The City has
established a fund for vouchers that can be used for impact fees, building
permit, and other City fees associated with new construction of eligible
projects. The voucher amount is 2% of the construction cost, up to a maximum of
$30,000. An eligible project within the designated Community Redevelopment Area
(CRA) can receive an additional voucher equal to another 2% of the construction
cost, up to a maximum of $30,000. The total maximum amount for a voucher in the
CRA is $60,000. These vouchers are awarded on a first come/first serve basis
and applications are processed through the Building Department.
New construction
projects for multi-family, mixed use, and/or non-residential developments that
have a construction value of $500,000 or more are eligible for the incentive
vouchers. In addition to the maximum threshold established above, no voucher
can exceed the actual fee amount (impact fees, plan review, building permit,
etc.) required at time of building permit.
Consider an 8,000
sq. ft. office building, for example. Assuming that the cost of construction is
$100/sq. ft., the building would cost $800,000. Eustis offers a voucher equal to
2% of the construction cost ($16,000 for this example; $30,000 maximum) citywide
and 4% ($32,000 for this example; $60,000 maximum) in the Community
Redevelopment Area. That voucher can be used to pay impact fees, building permit
fees, and any other up-front costs associated with acquiring a building permit.
So, the medical office in Eustis could actually cost as little as $1,394.76
($17,394.76-$16,000) in impact fees or if it was located in the CRA, the project
would have $14,605.24 to apply to the cost of the building permit.
“There has never
been a better time to invest in Eustis and the Lake County area,” said Paul
Berg, City Manager. “Costs of commercial properties and housing are only a
fraction of the cost of those found in larger metropolitan areas. When coupled
with these new incentives and those provided by Lake County, doing business with
us has never been more affordable.”
The new incentives
join the approximately $30 million in capital improvements and master planning
that have been invested in Eustis’ future to better serve businesses and
residents. Highlights of these capital improvement projects include the
downtown stormwater project, wastewater plant improvements, the downtown
streetscape project and contributions to rail improvements.
For more information
about growing with us, visit us at
www.eustis.org. If you would like to discuss details of your project with
our team, contact Paul Berg, City Manager, at (352) 483-5430 or Dianne Kramer,
Director of Development Services, at (352) 483-5460.
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