Tucson News NowCounty pays for Raytheon buffer

When you're Pima County's biggest employer, public or private, you carry a lot of weight.

Not only is Raytheon the biggest employer, but it's payroll is the envy of anyone who knows the pay scale.

That's why, under fear the defense industry giant may pull up stakes or expand elsewhere, the county struck a deal.

It's been talked about for several years, but now its been consummated.

The county will pay private developers and investors $6 million for nearly 400 acres just south of the Raytheon plant on Old Nogales Highway and Hughes Access Road.

Initially, the property will be used as a buffer zone. It will give Raytheon space to test new innovations without interference from nearby urban development.

The property, owned in part by investor Don Diamond's Auriga Properties, has been tapped for residential development in the past, something Raytheon opposed.

The county's plan is to sell the property at a future date after the property is master planned into a defense and tech park.

"There comes a point where we have to be rational," said District 5 Supervisor Rich Elias just before the unanimous vote. "We have to preserve the jobs that we have in a market that's very difficult."

While preserving the 10,500 jobs, others say it goes beyond Raytheon.

"We need to embrace and welcome as many companies as we can," says Mike Varney, President and CEO of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. "There's an immense competition out there for companies like Raytheon."

The company chose Huntsville, Alabama for an expansion two years ago in part, because the buffer they requested did not exist here.

The county said it was not going to make that mistake again, especially in this economy.

"When it comes to preserving a company the size of Raytheon, I'm willing to support this," says District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll.

But not everyone at the meeting marched to the same drummer.

"This buffer zone is a complete fabrication, it's made up," John Kromko told the board. "Some people would say it's a lie."

Others, like Ally Miller, says she's surprised by the valuations of the four parcels involved.

"I noticed a curious thing in the valuations of these properties," she said. "From 2012 to 2013, the valuation went up 200%."

She says she studied other like parcels, zoned the same in the area, and discovered their valuations were flat.

However, Carroll says he discovered the price the county is paying is about the same as other parcels in the area.

Elias says its the "appraisal not the valuation" which determines the value of the property.

The county says it will use proceeds made from the sale of Posada del Sol for the purchase. The county realized a nearly $8 million profit from the sale.