Grizzlies owner’s firm seeks tax break
Ubiquiti, the wireless communications products company owned by Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, is seeking an approximately $1.8 million tax break to bring 25 jobs to Memphis.
The company is seeing a 10-year Paymentin-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) incentive to set up 161,000 square feet of warehouse operations at 6200 Global Drive. If Ubiquiti moves forward with the project, the company will hire 25 people at an average annual salary of $37,000, including overtime and benefits, according to the PILOT application.
Those 25 jobs would include packers, inventory specialists and return operators. The New York-based company also plans to spend $2 million on renovations to the facility on Global Drive and purchase about $3 million worth of equipment.
If the PILOT is not approved, Ubiquiti said it could look for warehouse space in Mississippi, where it is already in the process of constructing new facilities, or further expand its existing operations in Utah.
The company has two years to meet its obligations under the PILOT, or the incentive will be rescinded.
“However, the company is experiencing rapid growth in direct-to-customer sales in the U.S. This growing business is supported by only one U.S. distribution facility,” according to the application. “This new facility could support from 300 up to 500 unique products ranging from wireless routers and switches to cables and cameras.”
Pera bought the Grizzlies in 2012.