Skegee Travel Center

Skegee Travel Center in Tuskegee, Alabama, a UB Community Development (UBCD) New Markets Tax Credit Success Story

UB Community Development, LLC (UBCD), a community development partner of United Bank, has announced $7,000,000.00 in New Markets Tax Credit funds allocated to Skegee Travel Center Holdings, LLC, for the development of the Tuskegee Travel Center.

The 10,000 square foot travel center will be located at 3680 Highway 81 North in Tuskegee, Alabama, and when completed, will include a Huddle House Restaurant, Little Caesars Pizza, Krispy Krunchy Chicken, a convenience store, fueling center, gift shop, and Greyhound Bus Station. It will help create an estimated 38 full-time and 9 part-time jobs as well as six direct construction jobs. It is expected that a majority of these positions will be filled from the local community. The project is expected to be completed in 2020.

The project is being completed in conjunction with a master plan targeted at spurring developments within the 100-acre Tuskegee commerce park. The plan calls for the construction of an 85-room branded inn and suites hotel, a welcome center, and four full-service restaurants – all of which will be developed adjacent to the project site post-completion. In addition, the commerce park features several “shovel ready” sites that have been identified for light industrial and commercial use. At this time, it is estimated that the additional developments will be approximately $15,000,000.

Local support for this project is tremendous as this is the first development at the interstate. Owner and developer of the property, Jeffrey Potter, is honored to be part of the destination exit for travelers. “I see truckers stopping in. I see cars parking. I see visitors visiting our historical sites. We consider this plan A to the development of Tuskegee.”

Joe Turnham, Macon County Economic Development Authority Director, said, “We estimate at full operation about 300,000 people will come to the travel center each year.”

Tuskegee is located in central Alabama, 40 miles east of Montgomery, and is the county seat of Macon County. It was founded in 1833 and incorporated ten years later. Tuskegee has been an important site in African-American history and highly influential in United States history since the 19th century. In addition to Tuskegee University and Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center, it is also home to the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, both major attractions to this historical city.

About UB Community Development

UB Community Development’s strong history and experience in New Markets Tax Credit transactions, coupled with our passion for improving the communities around us, make UBCD Alabama’s premier financial partner for economic and community development. Through our NMTC projects, Community Facilities Lending Program and Community Housing Capital Fund, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, and more.

Since 2016, the U.S. Department of Treasury, through its New Markets Tax Credits Program, has awarded United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTC: UBAB), the parent corporation of United Bank and UBCD, $120 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations. UBA, and subsequently UBCD, are the only community development entities (CDE) headquartered in Alabama to receive a NMTC allocation from Treasury in the last decade. This success was made possible largely because of United Bank’s designation as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and the organization’s unwavering commitment to its CDFI mission to bring positive and sustainable economic and quality-of-life improvements to undeserved communities, not only in its traditional banking footprint, but throughout the entire states of Alabama and Florida.

Additionally, UBCD, as the community development management entity for UBA, manages a $40 million Community Facilities Lending Program, which provides accessible, low-cost capital to local government and non-profits in rural areas. Finally, UBCD also manages the $4 million Capital Magnet Fund Award that Treasury recently provided to United Bank. The CMF award requires UBCD, in conjunction with United Bank, to inject at least $40 million in capital to facilitate accessible, affordable and quality housing communities. Like the New Markets Tax Credit awards, UBCD is the only Alabama-based entity to receive and administer these programs.

Download the success story here.