Free Land For Volkswagen? Chattanooga & Hamilton County May Sweeten Offer

Naturally, officials wont say what's in Tennessee's offer for Volkswagen, but when you compare Enterprise South and the site in Alabama, one big advantage that location has is cheap land.

When buying a house, many people pay for location. But does that ring true when you're building a major manufacturing facility?

Joe Pleva, a commerical and industrial realtor, says "when Fed Ex bought this facility (on Shallowford Road) they were looking for easy assessibility off 153, they knew Shallowford Road was going to be widened to 5 lanes it would be easy access, so that was location for them, its like what's happening at Enterprise South."

Land at Enterprise South reportedly costs some $20,000 dollars more per acre than the site under consideration by Volkswagen in Limestone County, Alabama... $60,000 versus roughly $40,000. County Commissioner Curtis Adams says there's a reason for that. "They don't have rail lines or Interstates. They're off the Interstates, so we have rail lines and we're building an exit for Enterprise South."

Economists say the sales price may be misleading. If a city or county offers to forgive property tax payments for a decade or more... that would make the cost of land in the long-term cheaper... despite a higher upfront price. UTC Economics Professor Bruce Hutchinson says "its somewhat like buying a car, where you're trading in another car. Just because somebody gives you a really high price on your trade in doesn't mean the bottom line is the best deal for you."

With Enterprise South still in the running, at least one county commissioner appears willing to make sure the price of land there wont cost the region jobs. Adams says "we'll give it to them, yeah, we'll give it to them if they need it, that's true."

Chattanooga and Hamilton County have invested nearly $10 million dollars in this property.

In case you're wondering who set that $60,000 price tag, it comes from the property assessors office... and is by no means set in stone.