The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NCR expansion could boost financial incentive package
Credits of $45 million could be offered by city, state, documents show.
NCR’s plan to add a second phase to its new headquarters in Midtown Atlanta could significantly boost the company’s incentive package from state and city governments.
The financial technology giant could stand to receive additional incentives of about $45 million from state tax credits, local property tax incentives and a state grant, according to an analysis of documents by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That’s on top of about $16 million in incentives offered to NCR by the city when NCR first announced plans to move to Atlanta from Gwinnett County in 2015.
NCR confirmed plans in September to add about 1,800 new jobs in Midtown on top of the 3,600 jobs it committed to moving from Gwinnett. NCR also said it will lease a second tower next to a 20-story building now under construction near Technology Square.
The incentive figure was smaller for NCR’s first phase because the positions already existed in Georgia. The latest package includes state tax credits related to jobs and positions that would be relocated from out of state. The credits amount to $3,500 for each new job created for up to five years, which could total $31.5 million for 1,800 jobs.
On Thursday, the board of the city’s economic development agency, Invest Atlanta, unanimously approved a lease-purchase agreement that will result in an estimated $7.7 million in property tax breaks for the second tower.
Eloisa Klementich, Invest Atlanta president and CEO, said NCR was considering a consolidation of its workforce elsewhere. Even with the property tax break, Klementich said the tax income from the property will rise from about $40,000 a year now to about $1.4 million after the tower is built.
“I’m very proud to say we worked closely to win this competitive project with the state,” Klementich said before the vote.
Developer Cousins Properties owns the headquarters campus and NCR will occupy the property under a long-term lease.
Separately, the state of Georgia agreed in September to provide NCR a grant of $5.6 million to help induce the expansion that includes the second building.
The NCR headquarters move adds to a burgeoning technology scene in Midtown Atlanta. Jobs at the complex are expected to pay about $82,000 annually on average.
An NCR spokesman declined to comment.
Founded in 1884 as National Cash Register in Dayton, Ohio, NCR moved to Gwinnett in 2009, lured then by about $109 million in state and local incentives.
Also on Thursday, Invest Atlanta’s board approved a $550,000 city Economic Opportunity Fund grant to Honeywell for its planned technology center and division headquarters in Midtown.
Honeywell plans to create about 800 jobs as part of its expansion, paying about $100,000 annually. The state previously announced it would provide a $1.5 million grant as part of an incentive package Honeywell officials said is valued at about $12 million.
Georgia competed with other states, including North Carolina, for the project. State, city and business leaders have said Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto of a controversial religious liberty bill and North Carolina’s adoption of a controversial law seen as discriminatory to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, helped give Georgia an edge.