Fimbres: First steps for HomeGoods distro center

A lot has been said and even downplayed about the recent action by the Tucson mayor and City Council about the proposed HomeGoods Distribution Center coming to our city. Here is what has happened.

With my motion, the mayor and Council approved the city's Primary Jobs Incentive Program and a Payment In Lieu Of Tax measure for HomeGoods to build their new distribution center at 3649 E. Corona Rd., which is located in Ward 5.

This distribution center would serve the retail outlets for HomeGoods, TJ Maxx and Marshall's in the western United States. This distribution center would open next year and initial have 410 employees and will rise meeting their full employment with 910 jobs. HomeGoods also offers all employees health and dental insurance benefits.

This will be an economic boom for our city with the new jobs. These employees will buy houses and shop in Tucson, which will create other employment in the city. According to independent economic analysis conducted, the total economic impact of the HomeGoods distribution center will be $873 million.

Bill Ferguson, manager of HomeGoods distribution center engineering, was present at the Council meeting for which I asked him to say a few words. Ferguson stated that HomeGoods was excited about the proposal and that the company chose Tucson because of its location near highways and railways, and for its workforce.

Tucson enjoys being on Interstates 10 and 19, is on the main Union Pacific east-west rail line, is less than an hour from Mexico, has the Port of Tucson, has an international airport, and has an ample workforce available for logistics businesses. Compared to locations such as California, Tucson can typically offer a lower cost of doing business.

With the location of the distribution center, HomeGoods qualifies as well for the Global Economic Development District incentive. This is the first business located in the district, which encompasses areas within Ward 1, Ward 5 and Ward 4, and was created by Councilmembers Shirley Scott (Ward 4) and Regina Romero (Ward 1), and me. Permit fee waivers will also be issued to HomeGoods for the construction of their new facility.

This signals to other major companies that Tucson is a competitive location for future expansion opportunities. HomeGoods follows Target as the second major national retailer to choose Tucson for a distribution center.

The construction of this new facility will include 259 construction jobs, with an economic output number of $32 million associated with the construction alone. The capital investment, equipment, buildings and other materials will bring the total to $75 million dollars.

The mayor and Council have taken the important steps to bring HomeGoods to Tucson. HomeGoods will become a major part of the Ward 5 economic hub, which has had more than 2,000 jobs created in the past five years.

I want to thank my colleagues on the Council for voting to approve these initial measures and I look forward to welcoming HomeGoods to Ward 5 and working with them. I also want to Chris Kaselemis, Camila Bekat and the City's Economic Initiative Team for their work on this project.

The Mayor and Council will vote on the notice to proceed on March 3, and on March 17 the development agreement and PILOT agreement will come to the Council for approval.

The city relies on sales tax and revenues to operate and this development deal will help the city to provide for the services the constituents want.