Plano to offer Pizza Hut $2.5 million deal to relocate from Addison

By THEODORE KIM and KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News

Plano is preparing to offer its largest economic package ever to lure Pizza Hut's corporate headquarters from Addison.

The package, drawn up during months of secret talks, includes grants and tax breaks totaling about $2.5 million. Plano's City Council will discuss the package Monday.

Officials say the multimillion-dollar deal is worth the cost for this city, which is struggling financially. Pizza Hut's impact, they say, could extend beyond the jobs it brings.

"It's not a done deal, but we're excited to be this close," Plano Mayor Phil Dyer said.

Should the company proceed, it would move at least 450 employees into a new $15 million office at Legacy Business Park in northwest Plano, according to the agreement. The yet-to-be-built structure would house nearly as much space as three football fields.

Pizza Hut officials could not be reached for comment. But a spokesman said earlier this week that the firm could come to Plano.

Addison Mayor Joe Chow said he was hopeful that the company, which moved to its current site along the Dallas North Tollway from Wichita, Kan., in 1995, would stay.

"It costs a lot to relocate," Chow said. "I don't believe that Plano is going to offer that much."

Pizza Hut would receive $2.1 million in cash as well as tax abatements through 2021, according to a copy of the incentives. More here.