UPS Lands Tax Incentives for Arlington Regional Hub

By Alexandra Pacurar

Rendering of the UPS Regional Hub in Arlington, Texas

Arlington, Texas—The Arlington City Council unanimously decided to grant United Parcel Service Inc. tax incentives for its new regional hub, scheduled to open in 2019. The company will lease one of the city’s largest industrial spaces, now under construction—roughly 1 million square feet at the Arlington Commerce Center—and expand it by 200,000 square feet.

The approved Chapter 380 program agreement will provide UPS with a business personal property tax deduction of 85 percent for seven years. UPS will provide $29,000 in tax revenue to Arlington, while saving approximately $71,600 per year. The city will withhold approximately $93,000 per year from the rebate, which will allow it to recoup $650,000 in economic development incentives previously granted to Exeter Property Group to facilitate construction of the 1 million-square-foot warehouse.

UPS plans to invest $105 million overall in personal business property, including modern conveyer belt systems and other custom equipment. The new regional hub, located south of Interstate 20 near Bardin Road and Texas State Highway 360, will allow the Fortune 500 company to accommodate e-commerce growth and create 1,400 full-time jobs.

The property is anticipated to improve the taxable value of the Arlington Commerce Center site by a minimum of $30 million. The economic development deal with UPS was four months in the making, according to City of Arlington’s Economic Development Manager Bruce Payne. “Arlington has such an advantage, with its central location in the Dallas-Fort Worth region and easy access to major airports and highways,” Payne said. “For this kind of operation, we are in a good position. And with the economy humming along, companies are moving on that and we are reaping the rewards.”

The American Dream City currently has 7 million square feet of business space under construction or planned. This includes General Motors’ $1.4 billion expansion at its Arlington assembly plant, the relocation of the D.R. Horton headquarters from Fort Worth, the construction of Ridge Development’s 1.6-million-square-foot industrial park and Summit Racing Equipment’s retail store and distribution center.

Image courtesy of Exeter Property Group