Vilano CRA gets designation as Recovery Zone

Historic City News reporters watched as Robert A. Bentz, a principal in Land Design South in West Palm Beach, and development partner for the new Vilano Town Center grocery store site with Joe Lelonek, spoke before the St. Johns County Commission in their regular business meeting this morning.

Bentz told commissioners that immediately after the first of the year, demolition will begin followed by an aggressive construction schedule that he says will put the “grand opening” for Vilano Town Center at about one year from today.

Under the Community Redevelopment Act, the Board of County Commissioners has defined three Community Redevelopment Areas within the County — including the Vilano Beach Community Redevelopment Area.

Bentz explained that his commercial shopping center, the cornerstone of the Town Center concept, will complement the work already accomplished by the Vilano Beach CRA in recent years.

Tom Crawford, speaking for the St. Johns Country Industrial Development Authority, asked the commission to designate the County’s Community Redevelopment Areas as Recovery Zones for the purpose of issuing Recovery Zone Bonds.

The commission acted to approve Crawford’s proposed designation of all CRA zones as Recovery Zones. The St. Johns Country Industrial Development Authority can now act as the issuer of up to $5,515,000 in Private Facility Bonds, which can be qualified as Recovery Zone Bonds, with the stipulation that they must be issued before January 1, 2011.

Armed with Board approval, obtaining construction financing will be easier for the development partners. BB&T will provide the financing for the construction, at a discounted rate of interest to Vilano Beach Town Center Partners LLC, because the bank will receive a tax exemption from income earned from that loan — thanks to the use of the Recovery Zone Bonds.

Now that Publix has executed a lease with Vilano Beach Town Center Partners LLC to occupy a 28,000 sq. ft. supermarket in that location, construction of the center can begin. The construction itself and the retail tenants of the center will promote job creation and economic recovery, according to Bentz. “There will be about 100 new jobs as a result.”