Waterloo, IA, Self-Storage Developer Receives Land Gift/Incentive From City

Real estate developer Jim Ellis, owner of GMJ2 Industries LLC, received a land gift from the City of Waterloo, Iowa, on which to build a $1.1 million self-storage facility. In a 5-2 vote, Waterloo City Council members agreed to the deal as part of its ongoing effort to lure new real estate developers through offers of free land and tax incentives. The gifted parcel was worth an estimated $210,000, according to the source.

The site is on the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Northeast Drive, in the Waterloo Northeast Industrial Park, a 240-acre real estate development area. The lots range in size from 1 to 75 acres, with property value per acre between $45,000 and $65,000, according to a city brochure. Developed parcels can be gifted to prospective developers for every $150,000 in taxable value. The self-storage development will be the first one in the park.

Councilmen David Jones and Tom Lind voted against the storage project. “I wasn't quite sure this is the type of project we want to provide incentives for. Do we really need to incentivize every single project in the city?" Jones said.

The self-storage facility will generate a new property-tax base in the tax-increment financing district, even with the potential rebates, according to Noel Anderson, the city’s community-planning and development director. “We think it's a good use of the lots we platted back in 1995," he said.

The storage project would likely not move forward if GMJ2 had to pay market value for the land, Ellis said. The company will also receive a 50 percent tax rebate if all three phases of the project raise the assessed value above $1 million, the source reported. Construction on phase one will begin in July, Ellis said.

GMJ2 Industries is a general-contracting firm based in Waterloo.

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