St. Pete approves big incentive package for Fortune 500 HQ relocation
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 14, 2021

St. Petersburg City Council has approved an economic development incentive package worth $475,000 to lure an unnamed Fortune 500 company looking to relocate its global headquarters to the area.

The company, which was presented to council as Project Athena, is rumored in commercial real estate circles to be Foot Locker Inc., which is headquartered in New York City. Foot Locker has been said to be looking for 75,000 to 100,000 square feet of office space in St. Petersburg since early 2021.

Foot Locker currently ranks No. 385 on the Fortune 500 and is based out of New York City. It also already has a presence in the city and is currently hiring dozens of support and technology positions at 140 Fountain Parkway.

City council members Amy Foster and Deborah Figgs-Sanders were absent. The vote passed unanimously.

The relocation carries with it an anticipated $25 million investment.

J.P. DuBuque, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corp., told the council that his group has been working with site selectors on the project for two years. The relocation is not yet a done deal, DuBuque said.

It's a rarity, DuBuque said, for a company of this size to move its headquarters.

“This is a competitive project, but we believe based upon our conversations with the company that if this incentive package is approved that we will be in a leadership position in winning this project," he told the council.

The incentives would come from the unappropriated balance of the general fund and be reallocated to the Economic and Workforce Development Department. As long as the unnamed company meets the conditions for each of three levels of incentives it will receive the full amount from the city.

According to documents from the city, the emerging office market in St. Pete paired with the impact of the pandemic has led the city to begin “exploring new incentive ideas” to attract headquarter opportunities, which it said will help create economic stability for the community.

The $475,000 worth of incentives is broken up into three categories that cover a plethora of requirements including creating at least 300 new jobs with an average annual wage of $120,000 or more, executing a lease for at least 100,000 square feet of office space, hiring employees that live in the boundaries of the South St. Petersburg CRA and submitting a workforce plan.

Following the approval to offer the incentives, council members also approved a resolution that allows the Fortune 500 company to “add tangible personal property while preserving its ability to apply for an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Ordinance at a later date.”

The Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption essentially allows the city council to grant ad valorem tax exemptions to a new business or an expansion of an existing business that is going to create new jobs in the community. It was adopted by St. Petersburg voters on Nov. 8, 2011. Thursday evening's vote was an initial step in the process and did not bind the council to any further action.