When the Mesquite City Council meets Tuesday, April 12, they will consider approving a purchase and sales agreement with 333 Eagles Landing, LLC for 104 acres of city-owned property near the new I-15 Exit 118 interchange west of town.

Gross cash to the city at the end of the deal is projected to be $644,000 minus closing costs and realtor commissions projected to top out at $32,200. The commission is based on the cash amount of the transaction not the full purchase price of $1.6 million.

Just prior to this agenda item the council will consider creating an economic development incentive fund in which 25 percent of the gross cash will be deposited.

Last October the council approved 333 Eagles Landing LLC as the purchaser who offered $1.6 million for the land. Subject to performance requirements, Eagles Landing will receive a capital investment incentive of $483,000 and second job creation incentive also worth $483,000.

In a telephone interview with the Mesquite Local News, Prakash Gupta, a principal partner in 333 Eagles Landing said his company plans to start construction of a 10,000 to 12,000 square foot travel center that includes a quick service restaurant sometime within the first year after the new Exit 118 interchange is completed this summer.

The developer also hopes to include a tire repair facility for large trucks and vehicles.

Mark Yardley, also with Eagles Landing, said they still need approval from city council on signage and a couple other small issues.

“We’ve done a lot of soft work behind the scenes getting ready for the project,” Gupta said. “But there’s still a lot more planning that needs to take place. It will still take us some time to put everything together. The better we plan, the quicker the construction. We have a lot of dirt to move in the beginning.”

“One of the things we’re excited about is that originally some people told us this site was premature by two or three years,” Yardley said. “But the fact that we’ll be breaking ground within a year is really good news for us and all the folks in Mesquite.”

“We are motivated and excited and want to go forward as soon as the contract is signed and the bridge at Exit 118 is completed,” Gupta said.

“The incentives included in the contract are fine with us because we’ve never faltered after agreeing to them last fall,” Yardley said.

Gupta backed that up saying “we fully intend to follow through on what we said when we were bidding for the land purchase contract.”

The background documents for the agenda item spell out the contract requirements. “If the buyer does not qualify for at least a 30 percent discount and create at least 10 jobs, then all the property reverts back to the City and the City keeps the $644,000 in escrow as liquidated damages. “Additionally, the buyer is required to remedy any encumbrances on the property prior to giving it back to the City. This construct is designed to induce performance on the part of the buyer.

“If the buyer only qualifies for a 40 percent incentive discount (by combining any applicable Capital Investment Incentive and/or any Jobs Creation Incentive), the City retains all the cash in the escrow account and buyer re-conveys to the City 34.65 acres of property.

“If the buyer only qualifies for a 50 percent incentive discount (by combining any applicable Capital Investment Incentive and/or any Jobs Creation Incentive), the City retains all the cash in the escrow account and buyer re-conveys to the City 17.33 acres of property as designated in Exhibit D of the agreement.

“If the buyer qualifies for a full 60 percent incentive discount, the City retains all the cash in the escrow account and the buyer keeps all of the property. Under this scenario, the buyer has met all the conditions of the agreement.”

According to city officials, the cash and deeds for the land will be placed in an escrow account at the sale closing. The developer has 36 months to meet the requirements of the contract. “There are no start time incentives but there is a hard, fast finish requirement,” Aaron Baker, City Liaison officer said. “We won’t be closing on the contract until after July 1 because the developer has a 90-day due diligence period. When that’s done, we’ll close unless they want to do it sooner.”