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Century Agrees To Sell Industrial Building And 40 Acres For ‘Project Fusion’, Again Rejects Local Cotton Gin
September 2, 2020
The Century Town Council Tuesday night approved selling a building and 40 acres in the town’s industrial park to a company described as using an agricultural product to manufacture plastic alternatives. They council also rejected a new proposal from West Florida Gin to purchase the building and just five acres for about 10 percent less money.
Council members expressed more interested in the company known by the codename “Project Fusion” because their offer came with the promise of more jobs.
In May 2019, West Florida Gin made a lease-to-own offer on the town-owned building that has been empty for 12 years. They offered $4,000 per month for five years, an $8,000 deposit and to pay for any upgrades with an option to purchase it at $100 at the end of the lease. The council rejected the proposal.
The town advertised the building for lease this year and received just one offer — $6,000 per month for five years with an option to renew the contract for an additional five years from West Florida Gin. As the town council was set to vote on the cotton proposal that promised six jobs, they received a last minute offer through Pensacola real estate company Beck Partners for Project Fusion at $879,000 for the building and 30 acres. They came with a promise of employing 30 or more people within a couple of years.
The council tabled a vote on the lease proposal from West Florida Gin in Walnut Hill in order to negotiate with the Project Fusion company.
During the next week, the Project Fusion offer decreased by $119,000 as their project increased by 10 acres, and West Florida Gin made a cash offer to purchase the 40,390 square foot “Helicopter Technology” building.
West Florida Gin’s Rejected Offer
West Florida Gin offered $700,000 for the building and lot, a total of about five acres and has already made a $50,000 earnest deposit. It would have been a cash sale at closing with no actions required from the town. The town would have paid title insurance at closing and no broker compensation.
Project Fusion’s Accepted Offer
Project Fusion offered $760,000 for the building and the lot upon which it sits, plus seven other lots in the industrial park for a total of about 41 acres. The sale will be contingent upon a clear Phase I environmental assessment at the town’s expense (estimated at $2,500 to $6,000) and a determination at the town’s expense (cost unknown) that none of the property is wetlands.
Project Fusion has offered $50,000 in earnest money (not yet received), and the town will be required to offer owner-financing of 80% of the purchase price ($680,000) at a 4.5% interest rate on a 20-year amortization with a seven-year balloon payment. That equates to monthly payments of $3,847 with a lump sum balloon at seven years for $453,667.
The town will also be required to provide fiber optic connectivity and phone access to the lot with the building at the additional lots with 60 days, pay closing costs that include half of the title insurance (estimated $1,900), doc stamps (about $5,320), and a 3% broker fee ($22,800) to Beck Partners.
The company also requested security at the Century Industrial Park with a daily document log by a patrol officer and a waiver of all future impact fees. Both were sticking points for the council and their attorney. The town will instead request daily patrols and logs from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. And they won’t waive water and sewer impact fees because that will violate provisions of grant agreements that encumber water and sewer revenues.
The council approved the Project Fusion Offer on a 3-2 vote, with council President Ann Brooks and member Brenda Spencer voting against.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this developing story.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Comments
22 Responses to “Century Agrees To Sell Industrial Building And 40 Acres For ‘Project Fusion’, Again Rejects Local Cotton Gin”
Here’s how this looks to me:
Fusion comes along and puts up some large figures with a suggestion of several jobs.
Century sees the figures and takes the bait.
Now, to get the money, the town has to jump through hoops to get monthly payments while furnishi g everything including the kitchen sink.
The last offer by the gin company would be the more secure deal. I wouldn’t do business with Fusion, but i would go fishing with them.
The city council must think it sounds great to keep saying jobs, jobs, jobs. But unless there’s an actual clause stating that x-number of employees must be Century residents there is almost surely not the skill base in Century to fulfill employment needs. All of these employees will not be city residents.
Well if they request a deputy to patrol daily and complete a log, I’m pretty certain they will be required to pay the extra duty fees associated with that.
HAY CENTURY TOWN COUNCIL, I WOULD LIKE TO BUY SOME LAND ? CAN WE WORK OUT A DEAL LIKE THIS ONE ? BOY WHAT BIGGER JOKE THIS IS ! SO WHAT NEXT ? DO WE GET TO SEE WHO GET THE MONEY !!!!!
Only the deal the Santa Rosa county superintendent pulled off last year was worse than this one. He sold the Munson School property for about 150k and it is now listed at close to One Million.
@Linda Sue: just keep dreaming. Any jobs will be given to P-cola residents. Not to the Century residents who stand on the street all day instead of actually seeking employment.
Care must be taken to not tarnish the names of two people that voted against this fiasco. The odor from the decision made last night will be smelled over North Escambia County for years to come. It’s very sad when you put folks in office to do the will of the people and they fail miserably. A deal offered with all hands on the table would certainly be hard to walk away from but as always Council found a way to circumvent the real issue. In my humble opinion century should start this very day to try and fill the shoes of these three and the mayor and then you may start to rebuild your town.
Looks to me like they gonna have them another sawmill deal.
Thank you Century for taking the headlines this week after the election circus in Flomaton. I actually look at this story a little differently than some folks here. I’m not a fan of the mayor over there but maybe, just maybe some jobs will come out of this move. And if it doesn’t work out with this secret company, and they pack up and leave, the town will still end up with some upfront money, land and the building. And if it does work, folks have a chance at getting a job. What’s so wrong with that being possible?
At first I thought $879k was a good deal if we could make sure the company was legit and that it was a cash payment. But I always thought the cotton gin was a safer bet. And it was never mentioned but the cotton gin already hires a lot of Century people during the season.
But now that the selling price has been lowered with all the extras the town has to pay and then they want to finance the purchase……..this was not a good deal.
I know there’s a desperate desire to bring in industry that will create jobs but its also important to support those who already employee our people. There’s just too many extras on this deal. Please reconsider!!!
The ineptitude of these people is mind-boggling. The extra $60,000 will nowhere near pay for the amount of money the deal with Project Fusion will cost Century, besides the fact they are losing all those industrial park lots. The cotton gin will build themselves a new building in Walnut Hill, and I’d bet someone a 1000 to 1 that 10 years from now the Helicopter building will be empty and rusting away. ALL FOR THE PROMISE THAT IN A COUPLE YEARS they will employ UP TO 30 people. (who will probably all be from Pensacola)
West Florida Gin should have promised to hire UP TO 100 people in the next year. That would be as truthful a statement as Project Fusion and probably more likely.
Century – The Town Where Crime Is So Bad, We Won’t Buy Your Building Unless You Throw A Deputy Into The Purchase Contract!
Code name???
So for $60,000 from Fused Ag company the town gave up tens of thousands of dollars they will have to spend on closing costs, surveys, etc (what $100,000 or so? and $10K or so for fiber and a deputy at $25 an hour). And they gave up 35 additional acres ($60,000/35 acres = 1700 acre). taxpayers and century residents, you were screwed when your council was hoodwinked!
So, they passed up $700 000 cash for a financed payment and a “promise” of 30 jobs? And I’ll bet those jobs will go largely to people from the south end of the county. Additionally, they could have sold the acreage West Florida Gin didn’t buy for even more.
Is it any wonder Century is so financially unstable and the laughing stock of the Panhandle? Elections can (sometimes) fix such problems, y’know.
You have got to be kidding me this is absolutely the worst deal a town council could have approved. Turn down a cash offer with little cost to the town for a deal that they will finance.Monthly payments and a balloon payment in 7 years. They will default within the year and it will cost the town a lot of money to foreclose. Talking about a bunch of idiots running a town this takes the cake. I smell a KICKBACK!!!!!!
Is The Town of Century in a contest for being the entity that can make the most stupid and crazy decisions with a straight face?
In the short time I have lived here they have made some doozies.
This one may take the trophy.
$453,667 due in 7 years in a ballon payment.
453.667 / 84 = 5,400 a month if they spread out a portion of the income they make in order to pay this off.
Congratulations, in addition to the monthly payment of 3,847, that’s now 9,147 a month coming out of the company’s wallet each month, from the day they move in.
This will be in addition to any costs incurred by set-up.
And this is also after a price drop on the sale, with MORE land going to the new company.
I think Century just got suckered again. Here’s what’s about to happen:
the land that Century did own – that other acreage – is going to get re-zoned by Escambia County to residential and a development is going in. And that’s if the new company is on the up-an-up.
The money gained on the sale / development of the land will be used to pay off the helicopter building early, saving the company about 40,000 grand with Century out the difference.
With the West Florida Gin offer, you knew the math was good, and the people behind it are good. Now, we get a secret code name for a company, and deal that benefits the company in a year or two with no real plan of what’s after that, and we have to take the Town Council’s word for it that this company is decent.
When it comes time to pick a new town council, on three of the seats, can we write in “Anybody Else?”
Does anyone else see how the town is getting took?
Now folks should understand why the town is in the sad shape it is in.
Forget the amount of jobs .BUT,don’t the gin offer with a cash sale for 5 acres seem more of a better deal than all the expenses the city have to put out for the PROJECT deal with 41 acres.
Better hope that check clears the bank. Just say’n.
If only Tennessee Williams had been born in Century, he could have used this quite drama to convey the concepts of hopelessness and repetitive futility.
“In Another Century”, sounds good to me.