Evesham Council to vote on tax-exemption plan for public works yard sale to apartment developer.

A tax-exemption plan for 107 new apartments on the site of the Evesham public works yard would yield nearly $12 million in payments in lieu of taxes over 30 years, according to a preliminary agreement.

The plan goes before the Evesham Township Council on Wednesday night at a meeting that begins at 7. Council members first will vote on whether to go into executive session to discuss the agreement. After the closed-door session, the council will hold a public hearing on the plan and then vote, according to the agenda.

A request to Evesham Township for more information on the plan on Tuesday went unanswered.

Fieldstone Associates Limited Partnership of Bridgewater, Somerset County, plans to buy the township property for $1.52 million and add the apartments to its existing Barclay Chase at Marlton apartment complex, which borders the public works yard.

Council members voted 5-0 on July 14 to sign a letter of intent to sell the tax-exempt municipal property to Fieldstone. 

A pro-forma financial statement attached to the tax agreement between the township and Barclay Chase at Marlton II Urban Renewal LLC estimates a $24 million construction cost to build the 107 apartments, 16 of them affordable housing. 

The township had designated the 5.4-acre public works yard on Evesboro-Medford Road across from Sharp Road as an area in need of redevelopment, a formal designation that allows the property tax exemption.

"Given the challenges of developing this unique parcel and the uncertainties of the market, in the absence of the long-term tax exemption provided by the tax exemption, the development as proposed would have questionable viability," the agreement states. 

All services now offered at the current Department of Public Works yard would move across the street to 100 Sharp Road, where the township plans an expanded facility. Residents now can drive into the yard and dump everything from basic household trash to televisions to cardboard.

In the first year of the PILOT program, the apartment developer would pay the township the equivalent of 10% of the rental income of the new apartments. That would total about $250,000 in the first year of the PILOT, according to the agreement.

For the first 11 years, the PILOT payment would equal 10% of the development's annual gross revenue, which reflects the rental income for the apartments. The payment would rise to 11% in years 12 through 16, 12% in years 17 through 20, 13% in years 21 through 24, 14% in years 25 through 28 and 15% in years 29 and 30, according to the agreement.

» MORE: Access the meeting agenda and supporting documents.