YORK–Two days after Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Marquis Shopping Center off Humelsine Parkway closed, York County’s Economic Development Director was blunt when discussing the prospects of a replacement. There’s not much the county can do.
“Not really,” Economic Development Director Jim Noel said.
It’s a complicated issue, but basically because of the way the center was financed, York County has little to offer in the way of incentives to a new tenant.
“It’s a bit of an anomaly,” he said. “When that property was developed, it was done with Virginia’s iteration of tax increment financing.”
He explained that is done by taking tax revenue and pledging it to bonds that are sold to pay for the public infrastructure when the project was developed. As a result, the developer didn’t have that cost.
“And as a result, the project has never thrown any tax money to York County because it all goes to pay off the bonds,” Noel said.
If the project had developed as expected, the bonds would have been paid off in seven or eight years, according to Noel. Now, their mature date is 2040 or 2041.
“In a really roundabout way, I don’t get any tax revenue,” he said. “We do get a payment in lieu of taxes to offset some of our municipal costs.”
Without any tax revenue, the county’s options are limited.
“It’s still an important project to us, obviously,” he said. “But because we don’t get any tax revenue, I don’t have any ability to really offer any incentives.”
With the closing of Dick’s, the only original Marquis stores left are Target, Kohl’s, and Best Buy. JC Penney, another original occupant, closed in 2015.
Foundations Church of Williamsburg is interested in taking over the JC Penney building. The proposal is for a church, along with restaurants on the outer edge of the building. Noel said there even is talk of a private workforce development center.
However, there has been a snag with that. While the county has approved the project, the Marquis owners have not.
“We did everything we needed to do for it to happen,” Noel said. “But it’s an internal thing with the existing property owners.”
He added beyond that, he is not aware of any other prospects for the center.