Columbus City Council members agreed to provide a local over-the-counter pharmaceutical manufacturing company a tax abatement for a planned new warehouse.
The council voted 8-0 to give Applied Laboratories, Inc./Moravec Realty a standard 10-year tax abatement on a $6.5 million investment of real property into building a new warehouse at the production and storage facility at 1600 Brian Drive.
Paul Smith, assistant director of community development, wrote in a memo to council members that the abatement was for $6.7 million, but Jeff Logston, president of Applied Laboratories, wrote in his memo to community development it was for $6.5 million, and that was the figure included in the resolution passed on Tuesday night.
“Moravec Realty owns the property and current 165,000-square-foot facility and plans to expand it by 105,000-square-feet calling for a real property investment of $6,500,000 to accommodate additional warehousing space,” Logston said in a memo to the city’s community development department.
There are two buildings on the property and the south facility is the one subject to the expansion. Columbus-based Dunlap Construction will serve as contractor for the work, Logston told council members on Tuesday night.
According to the company, 193 jobs will be retained as a result of the expansion, but no new jobs added, Logston said.
Total wages at the company are approximately $12 million with an average blended wage of $22.44 per hour before fringe benefits, according Smith.
Applied Laboratories, Inc./Moravec Realty would save $577,059 as a result of the abatement and the city would receive $588,716 in net new property taxes they otherwise wouldn’t receive if not for the investment, according to city documents.
When the company, which provides packaging and delivery systems for filling of liquids, creams, gels and ointments, last asked for a tax abatement in June of 2023, Logston said they were at 167 full-time employees.
“We committed to 10 additional. That’s (was) just under two years ago. We currently have 193— so that’s the 10, plus 17 more,” Logston said of the company’s continued growth.