Votes Boost Cargill, Airport Building Projects

Real estate deals near Dayton International Airport and at Cargill in Sidney got a big boost Monday.

The Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority Board of Trustees voted unanimously Monday to boost both business expansions, approving deals that will shield construction projects at both sites from state and local sales taxes.

The trustees approved a capital lease financial structure to exempt from sales taxes a $175 million expansion at the Cargill refining plant in Sidney, a project expected to add 12 jobs to a workforce of 293 people.

That project is similar in size to Emerson Climate Technology’s expansion, also in Sidney, which trustees also voted to support last year.

The Cargill project will build structures consisting of 35,000 square feet of prep space, an additional 28,000 square feet of work areas, more than 11,000 square feet of office space and 5,625 square feet of a loading area, about a mile from Interstate 75 on Industrial Drive.

Both JobsOhio and the Dayton Development Coalition asked the Port Authority to consider supporting Cargill’s plans, said Jerry Brunswick, Port Authority executive director.

“This is what they need to do to stay competitive,” Brunswick said of Cargill.

The second project trustees approved Monday supports a second building NorthPoint Development is building near Dayton International Airport.

NorthPoint has already built and opened a 570,000-square-foot industrial warehouse north of U.S. 40 near Concorde Drive for Spectrum Brands, which produces STP automotive products.

NorthPoint is building a second facility — at a cost of about $31 million — next to the Spectrum property that is 524,160 square feet in size for an unidentified user.

NorthPoint is also building a third facility in the area.

Monday’s vote supports that second building.

Erik Collins, Montgomery County development director, said no county officials have met with prospects for that second building and NorthPoint has not announced a tenant yet.

The two NorthPoint projects take up almost 90 acres. “On the western side of the airport, a lot is happening,” Brunswick said.

That latter vote approves the sale of revenue bonds from $14 million to $17 million to deal with higher-than-expected construction costs, Brunswick said.

Port authorities are often used to make real estate deals easier. By law, they are often able to execute projects without bidding them out and they can hold titles to sites to protect primary users from taxes.