City Council approves Regal deal

Knoxville City Council members agreed Tuesday to spend up to $9 million in support of moving Regal Entertainment Group to a vacant office building along the South Knoxville Waterfront.

The vote by council was unanimous to approve the money. Council Nick Della Volpe, however, expressed reservations.

"Economically, it's a little weak in terms of the return to the taxpayers for their money being taken from their taxes in this building," Della Volpe told 10News.

"They're basically going to pay taxes on the building to the Industrial Development Board, the IDB, but they're not going to pay rent for 10 years on 178,000-square feet," Della Volpe continued. "If they stay and don't buy the building, the next 10-year period from 10 to 20, they're going to $1 a square foot, and if they stay the third period, they're going to pay $2 a square foot. That's way below market rate."

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