By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com
The Lee County Board of Commissioners will consider giving up to $2 million next week toward the proposed redevelopment of west Sanford’s Riverbirch Corner shopping center.
Ohio-based commercial real estate developer CASTO, which purchased Riverbirch in 2022, has proposed a redevelopment of the shopping center that would include a near-complete demolition of the existing buildings and the placement of a Target store, an unnamed “new to market” grocer and several other new commercial buildings. In exchange, CASTO has asked Sanford city government for an incentive of up to $4.4 million that would reimburse the company for a portion of the rehabilitation work necessary to redevelop the site.
The county’s possible commitment makes the public money price tag total as much as $6.4 million. The commissioners will take the vote at a meeting on Monday. The city council will hold a public hearing for its part of the incentive on Tuesday.
According to the agenda for Monday’s meeting, the agreement will “fund the water and sewer infrastructure” at Riverbirch that requires CASTO to “pay and install the infrastructure upfront and then seek reimbursement” when the project is complete. The city’s incentive agreement requires a public hearing, but the county’s funding mechanism is an interlocal agreement to participate in the deal with city government and will require only a vote from the Board of Commissioners.
The Sanford Area Growth Alliance, which helped negotiate the deal with CASTO, called it “one of the most significant projects ever undertaken in our community” in a social media post, and estimates a return on the investment far in excess of the up to $6.4 million in public funding.
“The potential economic impacts are considerable,” the post reads, listing $60 million-plus in new capital investment, $100 million in annual retail sales, and more than $3 million in new property and local sales tax revenue each year as potential benefits.
County staff’s recommendation to the Board of Commissioners is to approve the request, according to the meeting agenda. Approval would require a yes vote from four of the board’s seven members, as would the city’s deal.
The Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center, 1801 Nash St in Sanford. The City Council will hold its public hearing at a meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 225 E. Weatherspoon St.
Note: An earlier version of this story referred to Lee County’s potential contribution to the project as an incentive. Under state law, such an agreement wouldn’t qualify as an economic incentive.
Dear RANT, After thoroughly reading the InterLocal Agreement with the City of Sanford and the Resolution, I failed to find the words “County Incentive.”
The Chairman is correct, it is not an “incentive”. It’s an agreement to participate on a project with the City. Only the City is the “beneficiary” of the County participation and since there is no mentions of matches, or upfront costs, it is in effect backended which protects the County. Given the nature of the eyesore and the potential regional benefits to Lee County, participation is a no-brainer.
Good eye, guys. My concern is Sanford going to make it safer with all the traffic flow that will be expected. That overpass on Spring Lane is a nightmare. There will need to be stoplights every 25 yards to handle all the ins and outs.
Sanford does not control Spring Lane or 15-501. That abomination is the illegitimate child of the NC DOT and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Ideally the development would have an exit onto Wilkins Drive. But more important than that is the need to raise the Big Buffalo Creek Bridge over Spring Lane and realign Plaza Drive and get rid of the Douglas Drive connection to Spring Lane. That might mean condemning the NC Credit Union Property. But that’s a chicken and egg thing and the State nor the City can really move forward on anything like that unless a Target is actually sitting in Riverbirch.
Wow, that’s a lot of money !
Yes that is a lot of potential tax money against a meager investment.