City Leaders Approve Incentives To Drive 2nd Uber Headquarters To Dallas
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Uber now has a nearly $10 million offer to come to Dallas.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved an incentive package to the transportation company which is considering sites in Dallas and Arizona for a major new development.
Dallas lost out out on Amazon's second headquarters earlier this year.
Judging from the incentives just approved, the city is throwing everything but the kitchen sink to become the home of Uber's second headquarters.
The council voted unanimously to approve the economic incentive package.
Some of that is for job creation.
It also includes a five-year property tax abatement on the site which would be on Pacific Avenue next to the Deep Ellum DART station.
That's where Uber will build an office tower if it's executives choose Dallas over another site in Arizona.
Uber would sign a 10-year lease on a 160,000 square foot office tower already under construction while building a 500,000 square foot building that would be completed by 2023.
Mayor Eric Johnson says Uber would bring thousands of high paying jobs and a $110 million investment.
Travis Considine, Communications Manager for Uber Texas, said in an email to CBS 11, "Uber is evaluating adding a significant number of jobs in Dallas and investing directly in the community. Our team is currently discussing the opportunity with state and local leaders and we hope to make a decision before the fall."
Mike Davis of SMU's Cox School of Business said, "This maybe a little bit of an echo of Amazon. We didn't get Amazon, but we got a lot of attention from Amazon, so it could be that companies like Uber are thinking more carefully about Dallas because Amazon thought about Dallas."
Uber is expected to make a decision by the fall and could be made as soon as the end of the month.
