During a Dec. 9 Vancouver City Council Workshop, council members and members of the public heard from city staff and someone from HP regarding the proposed development agreement between the city and the company.
Last week, the city announced that it was considering a development agreement with HP that, if approved, will allow HP to move forward with the purchase of 68 acres of property and the initial development of two buildings with 330,000 square feet of office space in the area known as Section 30 in East Vancouver.
“HP Inc. has a corporate vision to create technology that helps people and makes life better for everyone everywhere around the globe,” said Bob Brackin, Global Strategic Real Estate Transactions manager for HP.
If the development moves forward, Phase 1 will consist of two office buildings, with subsequent phases anticipated to bring up to 1.5 million square feet of space in multiple buildings for office, research and development, industrial services, and manufacturing and production over the next 15 years, according to a news release from the city of Vancouver.
Brackin said the development would serve as a research and development center for HP’s print and 3D print lines of products, which he said is an area that has a lot of opportunity for future revenue growth.
“This being one of our key global ‘R&D’ centers for 3D, we are hopeful for big things to come as that industry evolves and matures,” Brackin said.
Brackin also emphasized that HP is not a new presence in the community, as the company has been located in Vancouver for 38 years. He said HP anticipates its Vancouver footprint to grow over time through a combination of new jobs created and/or work moving to the selected site. HP currently leases space at the Columbia Tech Center in East Vancouver, employing a “700-person highly skilled, well-compensated workforce.”
In the local community, Brackin said HP has been an “active community member,” through volunteer hours, contributions to local causes and education programs, and more. One of the organizations that HP contributes to, the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, will actually end up one of their new neighbors if the development agreement between the company and the city if approved. Stacey Graham, president of the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, said they are very excited to have HP as their neighbors.
“We are very excited to have them come, and hopefully it will help change some of the traffic (issues) out there,” Graham said. “We’re also excited because they are a great corporate partner in the community. We will be more than happy to have some HP staff come in on their lunch breaks and spend some time with some cats and dogs. The whole face of the neighborhood is changing so much and we like it.”
During the Dec. 9 workshop, Chad Eiken, community and economic development director for the city, presented some information to the council regarding HP and the selection process. In the fall of 2018, the city was contacted by JLL, a national site selector firm, about a business recruitment/retention opportunity (Request for Proposals). The project was described as “building investment for highly skilled advanced R&D employment base.” Two Vancouver sites were identified as potential locations.
In July of 2019, the city was contacted by JLL and informed that Section 30 had been selected, and that HP was interested in discussing a formal agreement outlining city commitments. Since September, city staff has met numerous times with the HP real estate team to negotiate terms and incentives of a development agreement. In early November, a draft development agreement was finalized for council’s review.
The proposed development agreement includes these key elements:
- City to allow Phase 1 to be reviewed using a Type II administrative process; subsequent phases subject to full Master Plan process.
- City to consider code amendment to apply business license surcharge fee incentive to businesses that relocate significant jobs.
- City to consider code amendment to reduce transportation impact fees based on relocated jobs that meet wage thresholds.
- City to lock in current building permit valuation “cap” of $10 million for calculation of building permit fees for all phases.
- City to provide for reservation of sanitary sewer capacity for project in a sewer pump station constructed as part of subsequent phases.
- City to reserve Developer’s right to connect to any public storm water system that may be constructed in Section 30.
- Vest the project (and future properties added) by HP to current development standards as allowed by law.
- City to reserve transportation capacity for future phases up to 5,565 daily trips.
- City to commit to funding up to $3.5 million in public infrastructure as part of Phase 1, to be determined by HP; likely, this will be used toward roads and/or other needed infrastructure.
- City to commit to funding up to an additional $6.5 million in public infrastructure as part of Subsequent Phases; likely to be applied toward construction of a public sewer pump station, public streets further north, and/or other infrastructure.
- City will utilize its streamlined permit review process for land use, engineering and building review at no additional charge.
- Term of agreement = 15 years, with one option to extend by five years through Type I process.
According to the presentation from Eiken, in addition to approval of the development agreement, several of the proposed incentives to be applied to the project would require further council action, including: - Amendment to the Business License Surcharge Ordinance to provide a 5-year waiver of the per employee annual fee to business that relocates at least 700 employees that meet certain salary thresholds.
- Amendment to the TIF Business Development Incentive to reduce traffic impact fees by 50%, up to $200,000 for any business that relocates 700 or more employees that meet certain salary thresholds.
As far a next steps go, a public hearing will be held on the draft development agreement on Monday, Dec. 16, 6:30 p.m., at Vancouver City Hall, Council Chambers, 415 W. 6th St. Eiken’s Dec. 9 presentation to the council in its entirety and the draft development agreement can be found at https://www.cityofvancouver.us/citycouncil/page/meeting-agendas-and-minutes.
