The Goal
The Village of Bristol, Wisconsin, a small community located along the Interstate 94 corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago, is a highly desirable location for industrial developers seeking easy access to the metropolitan areas and the interstate system. When two developers brought proposals to convert largely vacant land into industrial parks, the Village needed a plan for bringing those developments to fruition despite not having the financial means to pay for the common road and utility infrastructure improvements to serve both developments.
The Solution
The Village engaged Ehlers for Economic Development & Redevelopment Services. Ehlers created Tax Incremental Finance District (TID) 1 for the 170-acre Bristol Business Park and TID 2 with 69 acres for the Bristol Highlands Commerce Center. The original TID project plans identified $31.4 million in infrastructure improvements reimbursed on a pay-as-you-go basis with revenues generated from the TIDs. While both developments stood to benefit from the infrastructure, it was initially unclear which development would advance first, creating a very fluid situation. The other taxing jurisdictions, represented through the Joint Review Board, trusted the Village to implement the financing plan despite the unknowns, granting approvals of each TID with unanimous support.
Ehlers conducted Economic Feasibility Studies to identify project costs and determine when tax incremental revenues would recover those costs. This analysis was incorporated into the project plans Ehlers prepared for creating the TIDs. Annually, Ehlers provides TID reporting services for the Village and continues to adjust repayment schedules based on the actual costs paid by each developer subject to terms specified in developer agreements.
The Results
Both Bristol Business Park and Bristol Highlands Commerce Center drew strong interest from industrial users early in the development process. As a result, both developers bought more land and Ehlers amended both TIDs in 2022 to include that new property and increased eligible TID expenditures by a combined $17,550,000.
Today, Bristol Business Park comprises more than 200 acres. When completed, it is projected to include more than 3 million square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space. Three completed buildings are occupied, with two more spec warehouses under construction. The remaining lots are future build-to-suit sites.
Bristol Highlands Commerce Center, when fully built out, is projected to have 2.6 million square feet of industrial space in six buildings across 154 acres. Early tenants include HARIBO, the gummi confectioner, and Visual Pak Companies, a contract packaging and manufacturing entity.
As of January 1, 2023, the TIDs generated more than $270 million in new taxable value for the Village. The full equalized value of the expanded TIDs will be realized over the next several years as development continues.