Colorado Springs dangles $16 million incentive to lure outdoor retailer Scheels (camping, tax)

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by DrDog

And does it matter what income levels are of people living there? Or is it important to be close to the freeway since it sounds like this is a destination store that will draw people from far away?

Far away like?

[DrDog]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Far away like?

That metropolis called Pueblo lol.

[orngkat]

IMO - this is not a good "investment" for the city to incentivize. A mega big box store with a ferris wheel and an aquarium (here?) sounds like a tourist trap from a previous decade. Aren't there already enough places both brick and mortar and online to buy sporting goods?

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

I do feel that the south and southwest parts of COS don't have much in terms of great -- actually I should say good -- shopping or even hospitals.

Yes, I understand that retail follows roofs, but for God's sake, you can't just ignore the entire rest of the city and just keep building things further and further north. I fear it's never going to stop until Castle Rock and Colorado Springs meet in the middle.

I agree, we basically have nothing on the West/Southwest side of town unless you count Southgate, which ain't all that great. I also do understand land availability is a premium, but the city planners should at least try to focus some on the city core so that things are central to everyone.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

Yes, I understand that retail follows roofs, but for God's sake, you can't just ignore the entire rest of the city and just keep building things further and further north. I fear it's never going to stop until Castle Rock and Colorado Springs meet in the middle.

I agree, we basically have nothing on the West/Southwest side of town unless you count Southgate, which ain't all that great. I also do understand land availability is a premium, but the city planners should at least try to focus some on the city core so that things are central to everyone.

I personally think the city needs to stop incentives to sprawl. The Springs is enormous do more infill projects for petes sake.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

I personally think the city needs to stop incentives to sprawl. The Springs is enormous do more infill projects for petes sake.

More infill would be good. I've sat in on some zoning meetings and heard 1 or 2 elected city council members talk about infill but it only seems to happen when a developer who owns land in the city wants to do it.

America largely has a laissez faire attitude to letting land owners do as they please with their land, with only the most minimal of restrictions and a public comment process that favors land owners over NIMBYs. I've been to Germany where land use is tightly controlled; one side of the street is a walkable cityscape with good bus/rail transit, and across the street are farmlands but no sprawl like here.

IMO the best thing for downtown would be a bunch of 10-story residential buildings so people could walk to jobs, eateries, shopping and attractions. Until that happens the downtown will be a place people must drive to and find parking in order to participate. The drive & park issue greatly limits the use of downtown as people can drive & park closer to home to visit shopping and eats and movies, etc.

Developers have a strong influence on city hall and until that changes there will be sprawl to Kansas.

Back on topic, I'd be against the city dangling incentives for retailers to come to town as most of those jobs will be typical low-paying retail work. If the spending habits and disposable income of locals, of itself, isn't enough to attract Scheels then city council should forget about it.

[Dan07]

Does anyone know what if any incentives Johnstown gave this company to build a facility in their community?

[Vision67]

"A City Council vote on whether to approve an agreement between the city and Scheels, which spells out details of the incentive, is scheduled Feb. 26."

https://gazette.com/premium/colorado...c913677f1.html

"Murray — who has supported other incentives, including the Trisco package — said he wouldn’t oppose help for Scheels if it wanted to build its store on Colorado Springs’ southeast side. The older, lower-income part of town needs jobs and an economic development shot in the arm. A new retailer could help draw consumers to the southeast side who otherwise would never visit the area, he said.

InterQuest on the city’s far north side, however, is one of the city’s hottest retail and commercial markets, Murray said. Along with InterQuest Marketplace, the area is home to the InterQuest Commons and Victory Ridge developments. The three projects boast hotels, restaurants, movie theaters and apartments, among other activity.

Employers also are flocking to the area. In-N-Out plans to build its facilities and first restaurant at Victory Ridge; Ent Credit Union has targeted a new headquarters near I-25 and InterQuest Parkway and Centura Health will build a hospital southeast of I-25 and InterQuest where it bought nearly 60 acres last week.

Scheels’ first Colorado store opened in September 2017 in Johnstown, north of Denver. But Johnstown’s population is only about 15,000, so Scheels naturally attracts customers from outside the town, Murray said.

With Colorado Springs’ metro population of about 700,000 and the drawing power of the InterQuest area, Scheels will cannibalize sales from area retailers, he predicted.

Councilman Andy Pico said he worries the Scheels incentive will give the retailer an unfair advantage over longtime stores that aren’t eligible for the same help. That’s not the case with, say, the city’s airport aeronautical zone, where all businesses can receive the same deal, Pico said.

“It’s going to be in direct competition with, or at least, overlapping competition with Bass Pro, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Big 5, all these others that are kind of in the same business and geographically not too far away in some cases,” Pico said."

[DrDog]

I never been to a Bass Pro. Do they sell sports stuff or just hunting/fishing stuff?

[Vision67]

https://gazette.com/news/scheels-gai...9e60cab28.html

"A $16.2 million tax incentive deal to woo Scheels All Sports to Colorado Springs’ north side cleared its final hurdle Tuesday.

The City Council approved the deal 7-2, clearing the way for the massive outdoor apparel and sporting goods store to plant a second flag in Colorado, while further expanding the fast-growing InterQuest Marketplace.

After approving it, Council President Richard Skorman called the deal an imperative for the city to ensure that Scheels — and its mighty financial impact — didn’t go to another city, such as Monument or Fountain.

The 220,000-square-foot store likely will include Scheels’ trademark indoor Ferris wheel and a massive aquarium, along with apparel, sporting goods, fitness equipment and camping and hiking gear. Scheels plans to spend $84 million building its store, creating 145 construction jobs and employing 400 people once open in early 2021, city officials said.

The store’s economic impact could total $1.5 billion over 25 years, city officials said, while reaping $30.9 million to $53.4 million in tax revenue in that span. Of that total, $20.2 million would go to the general fund to help pay for basic services.

The company expects up to half of its customers will come to its Springs store from outside the area.

“If they had chosen another place, the city wouldn’t have benefited from their sales tax,” Skorman said. “It’s a sales tax issue that we don’t want to see another community draw business there. They’re just a retailer that has a special kind of attraction.”

The move followed a vote moments earlier to cement creation of a new financial incentive tool aimed at attracting businesses such as Scheels.

The council then finalized the specific plan for Scheels, which calls for reducing the city’s sales tax rate from 2 percent to 1 percent at the store site, northeast of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway. Scheels then would be allowed to substitute a 1 percent public improvement fee — effectively a private sales tax — and keep the $16.2 million it would generate over 25 years.

The deal came amid opposition from the nearby Polaris Point development, which includes anchor Bass Pro Shops."