Sugar Land approves tax abatement package

By Betsy Dolan

As expected, Sugar Land’s City Council unanimously approved the tax abatement package for Texas Instruments Inc. as part of the company’s plan to build a research and development center that will employ 375 people.

The council also changed the zoning on the planned 7.2 acre site on the northeast corner of University and Lexington in Telfair from interim single-family residential to business office.

TI said last year it would close its 45-year-old semiconductor factory in Stafford, eliminating 500 jobs.

But the Dallas-based company decided to relocate their research and development group to Sugar Land after studying incentive packages from several communities in the Houston area.

TI plans to invest more than $35 million to build a 155,000-square-foot office building. The company expects construction to be finished by early 2014.

Sugar Land, the Sugar Land Development Corporation, and Fort Bend County offered a joint incentive package to keep TI in the county. Sugar Land approved a 50 percent tax abatement for 10 years. The Sugar Land Development Corporation approved a $2.5 million grant. Fort Bend County approved a 75 percent tax abatement on real improvements and personal property for 10 years.

The incentives are contingent on TI making a $35 million investment and creating 375 “high-paying jobs,” said Regina Morales, director of economic development for Sugar Land.

Sugar Land expects to see economic impact from the TI jobs, which carry an average salary of $100,000, according to city documents. It also expects TI to book 750 hotel room nights a year.

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Posted by FortBendStar on Feb 6 2013. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.