By Parker Leavitt
The Arizona Republic
Gilbert agreed this week to give $35 million in economic incentives to the developer of a massive commercial center that could double the town’s office space and help shake its reputation as a bedroom community.
Town officials say the deal, the result of three years of negotiations with Ohio-based developer Nationwide Realty Investors, protects taxpayers while boosting employment by luring new companies to its largely undeveloped central business corridor.
But critics are questioning the fairness to existing office centers of granting rich incentives. The two council members who opposed the agreement in Thursday’s 5-2 
vote said they support the development but needed more time to vet the tax-rebate deal.
Nationwide’s 300-acre mixed-use complex is the Valley’s latest megaproject to win a substantial public subsidy.
Such incentives have faced intense scrutiny and controversy, with Phoenix’s $97 million deal for CityNorth the most notable recent example.
That development, once envisioned as a crown jewel of northeast Phoenix, has been plagued by foreclosure. The Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative think tank, challenged the incentive deal in court, prompting Phoenix to spend more than $750,000 defending the agreement.
Gilbert officials say they’re confident Nationwide’s project, Rivulon, will play out differently.
The Goldwater Institute, meanwhile, would not immediately say if it plans to oppose the Gilbert incentive deal and said an official statement could come later.
