New firm to bring jobs, sales tax revenue
A $20 million facility planned for Pflugerville’s 130 Commerce Center will eventually host 200 employees and contribute sales tax money to the city’s coffers, officials said.
Flooring Services Southwest is relocating its Central Texas headquarters from Austin after closing on a 30-acre tract in the southern portion of the Commerce Center. The company bought the property from the Pflugerville Community Development Corp., an economic arm of the city that receives funding through a portion of city sales tax revenue.
Flooring Services, a subsidiary of FS Builder Resources, provides interior home supplies such as flooring, lighting, blinds and stone to commercial home builders. FS Builder Resources has facilities in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Baton Rouge.
Harry Crosby, Flooring Services Southwest CEO, said the company chose to look outside of Austin to build a new facility and found Pflugerville to be both accommodating and a good location.
“They wanted to move very quickly and we needed to move very quickly,” he said.
The project’s first phase entails a 187,000-square-foot facility with office space and a large warehouse. A second phase includes a 73,000-square-foot facility for stone countertop fabrication.
Officials said once completed, the facility will host 140 jobs, with an extra 60 jobs estimated within the next five years.
Mayor Victor Gonzales said the new facility will contribute to an ongoing goal of increasing the city’s daytime population, which helps boost local businesses like restaurants and shops that rely on daytime traffic.
Development corporation Executive Director Amy Madison said the city will garner sales tax revenue for purchases that occur in-house at Flooring Services’ design centers, though she could not provide an estimated amount.
The company is receiving no city economic incentives in the land deal, Madison said, though the corporation is considering some monetary assistance with relocation from Austin.
Madison said the relocation has the added benefit of 25 local employees at the company having a shorter commute to work.
“It’s a real coup for us to not only bring a company of this caliber and jobs that come with it (to Pflugerville), but to also help our local Pflugerville residents having to drive and cutting their commute almost to zero,” she said.
Flooring Services Southwest is just one of numerous companies that have relocated to 130 Commerce Center within the past decade. The 168-acre business center at the southwest corner of Texas 130 and Pecan Street is near buildout, with only 28 acres not under contract, sold or under construction.
When 130 Commerce Center is completely developed, Madison said the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. expects it to host 1,000 employees and remain a key component to the city’s economy.
“I feel the investment the corporation made in this has been a smashing success,” she said.