A Tucson-based space balloon firm will pay the county an average of about $1.2 million a year in rent for a 120,000-square-foot facility and launch pad, documents show.
That works out to an average of $8.75 per square foot annually over a 20-year-lease period for what will be the company鈥檚 headquarters.
That average is nearly $2 over the $6.79 per-square-foot rate charged for industrial properties in Tucson in the last quarter of 2015, according to recent local real estate research reviewed by the county.
However, the $5 rate to be paid by the company for the first five years is well under that figure, though the rate increases incrementally until reaching $12 per square foot for the final five years.
鈥淲hen reviewing the existing and historical trends in industrial property rental rates, it is clear the county鈥檚 lease with World View is a market transaction,鈥 reads a June 16 memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
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Construction recently started on the facility, which is being funded with nearly $15 million in county bonds. Construction is on track for completion in December on county-owned land south of Tucson International Airport, county officials said in a news release Tuesday.
The deal recently drew the attention of the conservative Goldwater Institute, which is suing the county for allegedly violating the Arizona constitution鈥檚 gift clause. That clause bars state government entities from giving their 鈥渃redit in the aid of 鈥 any company or corporation,鈥 among other prohibitions.
In the lawsuit, lawyers for the institute argue that the rental rates are 鈥渟ubstantially below market rates.鈥
鈥淭axpayer support of an unproven, for-profit luxury adventure-tourism business 鈥 does not constitute a public purpose for the expenditure or lending of public funds,鈥 the lawsuit goes on to say.
After reviewing the real estate data cited by the county, institute lawyer Jim Manley said he didn鈥檛 want to 鈥渟peculate鈥 about what the true market value of the property may be but that such a figure will likely come out during ongoing litigation.
鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 important to keep in mind is that the county is custom-building a facility to World View鈥檚 specifications, so one would expect that it would command a higher price in the market,鈥 he added. 鈥淎nd we鈥檒l find out just how high after the appraisal.鈥
