After a week delay, Commercial Rehabilitation Exemption Certificates are now in place for two developments in the city of St. Joseph. The city commission tabled the requests by United Federal Credit Union for its future headquarters at 150 Hilltop and to allow Fiskars to renovate one of its office buildings in the Edgewater district last week to allow commissioners more time to go through the details. Fiskars president Erik Fiskars said the renovations are needed because the property was designed to the specifications of TransAmerica in the 1990s and is now outdated.
“Like it or not, the modern company of today has problems keeping employees because of space,” said Fiskars. “And if they don’t like the quality of the space and the comfort and the benefits they get from working there, they won’t stay there.
“This is a local company that exists here. And they’re in one of our existing buildings now that is tight and cramped. They want to get into an open environment a la California, high-tech space,” said Fiskars without disclosing the name of the firm.
Cornerstone Alliance’s Cathy Tilley discussed the impact of that project, which will now begin this week after a week’s delay.
“Potentially creating ten new jobs with the new company coming in, new construction jobs will be approximately 35,” said Tilley. “Their investment in this facility will be $1,005,000.”
There was also plenty of confusion among the public on the certificates, as many believed the two companies were getting a 100% tax break. What was approved freezes the property taxes on the properties at the current rate for the next decade.
The discussion on United Federal Credit Union was held at the June 10 meeting, and with opposition centering around the location of an ATM to be placed to the west of the building. The city commission approved the plan as presented, however.
