More development is planned for downtown Winston-Salem, with the help of tax incentives.
Richmond developer Hugh Shytle is seriously looking at the historic Brown-Rogers-Dixson building, which formerly housed the P.H. Hanes Knitting Co. Shytle would invest $13.5 million to restore the building and would be eligible for millions in state and federal tax credits.
Believe it or not, the use of such incentives has drawn criticism from elected officials:
The use of local-landmark tax incentives came under fire last year when some council members raised questions about giving tax deferrals to property owners who seemed wealthy enough to pay full taxes. It is a debate that Shytle is well aware of.
“Without those incentives, the building sits there vacant. The question is: is it worth it to the community to have it restored or just have it sit there?” he said.
Pretty simple: No incentives, no building, never mind the fact that it’s pretty safe to assume Shytle can handle the cost of the development and the taxes.
It should also be noted that council members certainly weren’t dissuaded from giving Billy Prim incentives for his downtown stadium development, although it was established that he had plenty of money to foot the bill for the project himself.
