PILOT POINT — With the city’s help, Bobbie Jezek and her mother, Marian Stebbins, are moving back home to 114 W. Main St.

Jezek will open her day spa, The Purple Door, in the same building where her mother owned and operated a beauty shop 50 years ago. City leaders have agreed to an incentive package that helps Jezek’s investment in one of the city’s architectural treasures.

DRC file photo/Gary Payne

Shown in November 2007, the building at 114 W. Main St. in Pilot Point is the oldest brick building in Denton County. The site is scheduled to become home to a day spa in March.

View larger More photos Photo store

Jezek, a massage therapist, will spend about $35,000 renovating the interior of the two-story building that was most recently home to the Candy Peddler, and is the oldest brick building in Denton County.

“I told my mother, ‘I’m taking you home,’” Jezek said.

She and her mother will live upstairs.

Jezek and five employees — a manicurist, a facial technician and three stylists — will work downstairs.

She expects to complete the renovation by March, although the city has given her until the end of the year in order to receive the incentives. In exchange, the city will waive its permit fees and keep the 2008 assessed value on the property for 10 years.

The city’s economic development director, Stan Livengood, said the deal, written as a neighborhood em­powerment zone contract, doesn’t include a third incentive option allowed under state law, which is a sales tax abatement.

“It’s [the day spa] not generating that much in sales tax,” Livengood said.

However, city leaders expect the day spa to create more foot traffic downtown, in addition to the new jobs. That’s good for the restaurants and gift shops that are already there, he said.

Even though the city waived its permit fees for Jezek, it still must pay $527.34 to its inspection company, Bureau Veritas. But that’s the only direct cost the city will pay, Livengood said.

The other incentive — the property tax abatement — means less revenue for the city, but no out-of-pocket expense.

For example, when 2009 ad valorem taxes come due, had the $35,000 in improvements been added to the building’s appraised value, Jezek would have paid approximately $230 more in property taxes.

Livengood said the City Council seemed happy with the agreement when members ap­proved it during the regular meeting Monday night.

“We’re all pleased to be making strides bringing business back downtown,” Livengood said.

The city also has received a $150,000 grant from the Texas Capital Fund to repair and replace the sidewalks on the east and north sides of the square.

In addition, Livengood and Pilot Point’s new city manager, J.C. Hughes, recently visited with property owners on the south side of the square.

Buildings there have some structural problems, with some roofs, awnings and common walls collapsing, or already fallen in.

Neighborhood empowerment zone contracts are available to all Pilot Point property owners who offer new commercial or industrial opportunities to the city. The city adopted the policy, which offers the best incentives to properties around the square, last summer.

For the property owners on the south side of the square, Livengood said it’s time for them to make a move. Otherwise, the city may have no choice but to order the buildings be taken down.

“There is movement on all fronts,” Livengood said. “We’re looking to make things better, especially on the square.”

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .