The Board of Mayor and Aldermen have given conditional approval to a request by Cannon Motors Inc. seeking a tax break on the construction of two automobile dealerships at its property off North Frontage Road near River Hills Bank.

The board approved the request Monday, pending approval by the Warren County Board of Supervisors and the Mississippi Department of Revenue. The application for the tax abatement was in the name of Cannon Development Properties LLC, a subsidiary of Cannon Motors.

If approved, Cannon will be able to get a reduction in city and county property taxes on the property. School taxes are not affected by the tax break.

Cannon bought the 3-acre property, which was the former home of Vicksburg Cycle, in October 2014 when it bought Excel Honda from Bossier City, La.-based 3 Rednecks LLC. The company will relocate its Honda and Toyota dealerships in town at the site. The tax break application puts Cannon’s total investment in the project at $6.35 million.

Cannon spokesman Andrew Wood said the company expects to begin construction in early 2016 and complete it by the end of the year, adding construction will depend on the city’s plans to construct a connector road from North Frontage Road to Wisconsin Avenue, which will run between the dealerships and River Hills Bank.

The board in May 2014 approved an agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority for a 20-year, low-interest $1.31 million loan to build the road, which will go from North Frontage Road to Wisconsin Avenue across part of the old Battlefield Mall property.

The city in November signed an agreement with River Hills to repair damage to the bank’s parking lot caused by the road construction, allowing the city to apply for its final permit from the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

Plans for the road began in 2014 after a decision by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone a 22-acre tract along North Frontage owned by JEBCO LLC, the parent company for Blackburn Motors, from C-4 commercial to planned use development, which opened the way for the road. The JEBCO property encompasses the area that included the former Battlefield Mall.

A planned use development, or PUD, designation allows light industrial operations, clearing the way for the city to apply for the MDA loan.

The road plans anticipate a possible move by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center to move the front of its facility from Halls Ferry Road to Wisconsin to reduce traffic on Halls Ferry Road. ERDC is building a new headquarters facility about midway on its property.

The new road is expected to open new property for development.