With the hopes of luring a high-profile employer and film and TV producers into downtown Tucson, the Rio Nuevo board has committed $600,000 in incentives.
The employer, who is expressing interest in occupying space in the One South Church tower, would receive free parking.
The $100,000 allocation would be for five years as long as the employer has at least 30 workers on site, board member Edmund Marquez said in his motion.
“The company is a brand that we would all love to see downtown,” he said.
Board chairman Fletcher McCusker said it is “a major, recognizable brand” that would employ between 30 and 50 people.
The board has used parking incentives to help recruit other businesses into the downtown area in the past.
Developers are converting eight floors in the One South Church tower into a hotel with a restaurant and fitness center.
Floors 11 to 23 will remain office space.
The Rio Nuevo board also voted to create a $500,000 fund that would be overseen by board members Marquez, McCusker and Jannie Cox to recruit film companies downtown.
A network has approached the group about filming a food series.
Rio Nuevo is working with Visit Tucson to clinch the deal and expects an answer from the network in the coming weeks, as the food series has begun setting location schedules.
