ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, March 8, 1997                TAG: 9703100097
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-9  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON THE ROANOKE TIMES 

LAST LOT IN PARK INDUSTRIAL ACRES MAY HAVE BUYER

Six manufacturers are considering purchasing the property, and 3 have submitted proposals.

A buyer may have been found for the last piece of the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology.

Phil Sparks, the city's chief of economic development, said Friday that six manufacturers are considering buying the last developable acreage at the 16-year-old industrial park and that three have submitted proposals. Sparks declined to identify them.

Officials are in closed meetings with the companies to discuss the buyer receiving taxpayer-funded incentives, among other issues. As one carrot, the city has asked for money from Gov. Allen's deal-closing fund for one company, Sparks said.

The city also may discount the price of the 140-acre parcel, $35,000 per acre, in return for substantial investment and new jobs.

Sparks said most of the sudden burst of interest in the land stems from the state's enterprise zone program, into which the land was placed in 1995. In such zones - there are two in Roanoke - companies get tax breaks and other incentives for establishing or expanding businesses and employing people with low to moderate incomes.

The earliest an announcement could be made is in two to three weeks, Sparks said.

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