Clear Lake council approves development agreements with Pritchard’s, former Serta building developer

CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council last night approved development agreements on two different projects.

One involves a property tax rebate agreement with the Pritchard’s Company for the Pritchard’s Innovation Center and Lake Life Styles. Under the agreement, the city would provide incremental property tax payments in an amount not to exceed $250,000.

The other is a property tax rebate agreement with a private developer for the renovation of the former Serta Simmons building, and under that agreement, the city would provide incremental property tax payments in an amount not to exceed $375,000.

City Finance & Administrative Services Director Creighton Schmidt says it’s good to see two companies wanting to invest in the community.  “We have two buildings that have wonderful opportunities. We have a vibrant community where one building unfortunately is no longer in use for Serta anymore, but within a matter of weeks, we had multiple parties who were interested in making that not only what it’s doing now but maybe something greater in the future. The same can be said for what’s happening at the Pritchard’s Innovation Center, even right across the street over here. These are great developments for the community for sure.”

Councilman Bennett Smith says it’s another economic development win for Clear Lake.  “We’ve got some really innovative, high-quality businesses in Clear Lake with projects like this. It’s very exciting to hear kind of what’s going on with that, and again some cutting-edge kinds of things. Again, what we do is we like to partner with these businesses, public-private partnerships, so I look forward to seeing how these businesses grow going forward, and I think that will be very positive for Clear Lake.”

Both projects are evaluating applications to the Iowa Economic Development Authority for state incentives related to job creation. A local incentive, such as the tax rebate agreements approved last night, are requirements for the High Quality Jobs Program.