Danville City Council voted to approve a moral obligation for a loan to pay for construction of a 30,000-square-foot shell building in the Cyber Park.
The moral obligation was required from both the city and Pittsylvania County as part of a commitment from Virginia Community Capital, a banking corporation, to loan $2.875 million toward the project.
Council voted 8-0 to approve the moral obligation. City Councilman Lee Vogler, who arrived at the meeting after council’s decision, did not vote on the matter.
Danville’s and Pittsylvania County’s respective industrial development authorities have entered into an agreement to jointly construct the building in the Cyber Park, which is owned by the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority.
The site at the park is 10.17 acres, which allows the building to be doubled in size in the future, Danville Economic Development Director Corrie T. Bobe wrote in a letter to council.
RIFA has approved a 30-year ground lease with both IDAs for the project at a rate of $100 per year, with an option to buy the site after Sept. 1, 2022, for $1,000, Bobe said.
Danville has received a $1 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission to help pay for the project. The grant will be provided as reimbursement, Bobe wrote.
The shell building will be promoted to industries interested in coming to the Dan River Region.
“Danville has a very limited number of suitable buildings for a manufacturing operation, and this shell building would provide some needed inventory to market to a prospective industry,” Bobe wrote.
Virginia Community Capital and the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority will be partnering on the financing for the project, with VCC administering the money, Bobe wrote. There will be an initial blended interest rate of 3.1% for both IDAs.