PACE Moves Forward in Gulfport

EcoCity Partners say the PACE program in Gulfport could be up and running within a month if contract negotiations go as smooth as Thursday night's unanimous vote.

Gulfport City Council members voted 5 - 0 to move forward with EcoCity Partners as the third party administrator for the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. The next step is completing a contract; last night's vote authorized City Manager Jim O'Reilly to begin negotiations.

"Once that’s done we can be up and running very quickly, so within a month, we can be live and operational within the city,” Erin Deady with EcoCity Partners said.

Erin Deady and Amy Elliot attended the Gulfport City Council meeting last night in case councilors had any questions about the services. No questions came up and the resolution passed unanimously.

"We're excited, we've been working on this since 2010," Amy Elliot said.

Elliot says they're currently working with property owners and contractors on Florida's East Coast and are quickly lining up energy efficient contractors and auditors here as well.

"We have contractors that are applying, assuming that we are moving forward in Pinellas County," Elliot said.

Once the contract is complete, Gulfport would be the eighth municipality to hire the company to administer the PACE Program, Deady said.

Elliot says business owners in Gulfport can begin applying now on their website. Owners looking to make improvements costing $10,000 or more can apply, and if qualified, they can borrow up to 100% of the available equity of a commercial property.

“We have a small retail store that’s looking at us, it’s 2,000 square feet, we also have a shopping center that’s looking at the PACE project as well (in other counties),” Elliot said.

Elliot says although Gulfport is a small community, she's found 60 business owners in town that are eligible for PACE, with information provided by the Pinellas County Property Appraisers Office. “We can start talking with people immediately,” she said.

Elliot and Deady say the program will have a positive effect in Gulfport.

"It will attract more money in here also. Banks do want to lend and with PACE it’s a more secure way of lending money in a market that’s not very secure anymore. We’re making sure that our property owners are qualified for a PACE lien. A lien is the first lien on the property, so it’s more secure than a property equity loan or some kind of commercial loan that they normally do. We anticipate seeing more banks coming and bringing their private capitol to Gulfport once they realize there are properties here that do want loans and do want the financing,” Elliot said.

About PACE:

The program allows commercial owners to borrow money for energy efficient improvements such as installing new windows, insulation or other upgrades that reduce energy consumption. The loan could also help pay for a geothermal heat pump, solar photovoltaic systems, solar panel roofs and roof tiles and other retrofits.

PACE allows property owners to borrow a percentage of the value of the property and have 20 years to pay off the loan.

Selection Process:

Two firms applied for the contract in November: EcoCity Partners and Ygrene. The selection committee rated each firm on three areas of criteria. The committee consisted of Public Works Director Don Sopak, Community Development Director Fred Metcalf and Fire Chief James Marenkovic. Overall, EcoCity Partners received a final score of 88.33 to Ygrene’s 71.67.

About EcoCity Partners:

EcoCity Partners is an LC3, low-profit limited liability company that works with municipalities to develop public-private partnerships that create green jobs, facilitate renewable energy and energy efficiency property improvements and benefit the environment. Learn more about EcoCity Partners on their website.

The company has offices in St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach, FL.