PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council will vote on two tax increment financing agreements Tuesday night one of which for the construction of a 77-room Holiday Inn Express.

 

Councilors will have a lengthy agenda in front of them that will include consideration of the TIF agreements that will benefit the two new construction projects.

 

A five-year agreement would be with Somnath LLC, whose principles are Mauer and Dilip Desai, who plan to build the hotel at 1055 South St. The Desais had operated a Comfort Inn at the location until demolishing the 16-year-old hotel in 2014 to make way for a new structure.

 

According to council documents, Somnath plans to invest $10 million in the project and create 25 to 30 jobs,15 of which will be full time.

 

The Desais also own the Best Western Plus on West Housatonic Street and have been working with the City's Business Development Manager Michael Coakley over the past year exploring various options for this property

 

According to the agreement Somnath would be exempt from paying property taxes for the first year. This percentage would ramp down over the five years. In year two, it would be exempt from paying 80 percent, 60 percent for the third year, 40 percent for the fourth year and 20 percent for fifth year.

 

Per the agreement, Somnath would have to create the promised 15 full-time jobs within the five years and invest the promised $10 million in the hotel to be completed by Dec. 31, 2021.

 

The second proposed agreement is with Johns Building Supply, which wants to construct a new retail and office space at 850 Crane Ave.

 

Because of the proposed Ashuwillticook Rail Trail extension into Pittsfield, Johns Building Supply plan to move its office from the north to the south side of Crane Avenue at a cost of between $600,000 and $1 million.

 

The tax exemptions will be on the exact same scale as the new hotel and Johns Building Supply would be on the hook for making their promised investments and creating 10 new full-time jobs in the five years.