$1 million: Approximate total investment amount for Ameriprise Financial’s relocation.
10 years: Length of tax abatement deal with Ameriprise Financial.
6 jobs: Five jobs will be retained and one new job will be created through city’s tax abatement deal.
A local business is investing nearly $1 million to renovate the former Northside Appliances building in order to remain downtown.
Ameriprise Financial, currently located inside the Kissell Center, received a 10-year tax abatement deal from the city to help keep its five employees downtown.
City commissioners approved the deal by a vote of 5-0 with an emergency ordinance earlier this month.
Peter Foreman, the owner of Ameriprise Financial, purchased the building at 239 E. Columbia St. with his wife, Amy. Peter Foreman said the Kissell Center has been a great home but decided they wanted to own their own building with more accessible parking for older clients. They plan to open the facility once renovations are completed in October.
The Foremans plan to use about 4,200 square feet to house the financial planning business and lease the remaining 3,150 square feet as office space.
The tax deal is for a 10-year, 50 percent abatement of the improved real estate value. The owners will pay the previous property tax amount, plus half of the taxes on the improved real estate over the next 10 years.
“For us, this is reusing a vacant building in the downtown,” said city manager Jim Bodenmiller. “It’s going to increase property values and retain jobs within the city.”
Foreman called the tax deal “critical” to make the investment in the downtown area.
“It really kind of made it a little easier for us to pull the trigger and be able to do this,” Foreman said.
As part of the tax deal, Ameriprise will create one new job worth $50,000 over the next three years. The deal will also retain five jobs for 10 years with a payroll amount of about $256,000 per year.
“Our main goal was to keep them in the city,” Bodenmiller said. “It was an added bonus that we were able to keep them in the downtown area.”
The total investment is approximately $985,000, including acquisition and improvement costs. The building is being renovated by Springfield-based Kapp Construction.
“From the drawings we’ve received, it’s going to greatly increase the appearance of the structure,” Bodenmiller said.
Bodenmiller said the Springfield City School District will increase the amount of property taxes it receives based on the investment to increase the property value.
“Any time we can have a good, quality project which benefits the city schools, it’s always a positive,” Bodenmiller said. “(The school board) has been supportive of the project as well.”
The goal, Foreman said, was to keep his business downtown.
“We’ve been looking for land or space downtown for about three years,” Foreman said. “We’ve tried to stay downtown where we could own the place and have parking.”
Peter said the new building will allow easier access from the parking lot and will offer more visibility.
“This is a perfect fit,” Peter said. “The location is great, being on a main road.”
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