City leaders hear update on new grocery store

Friday, December 8, 2017
The Queen’s Price Chopper store is part of a redevelopment project at 2322 S. Main St., that will also contain a Dunkin’ Donuts store and a pharmacy. The grocery store and Dunkin’ Donuts are scheduled to open Dec. 13.
Jason E. Silvers

The Fort Scott City Commission on Tuesday approved amendments to the project plan and development agreement for the redevelopment district at 2322 S. Main St., that will contain Price Chopper and Dunkin’ Donuts stores.

Commissioners learned from Joel Riggs, director of real estate for Super Market Developers, Inc., the stores are set to open Dec. 13 and the redevelopment will also contain a 500-square-foot pharmacy.

Director of Economic Development Rachel Pruitt reported there has been a modification to the TIF (tax increment financing) district for the redevelopment project, which will be called the Main Street Marketplace Subdivision.

The proposed $9.4 million project involves redeveloping the 39,500-square-foot building into a grocery store and the construction of one or more retail/restaurant pad sites on the property. Additional plots of land in the project include the parking lot at 2322 S. Main St., and a 4,500-square-foot plot of land near Tractor Supply.

Pruitt said the modification would result in an additional $125,000 to be reimbursed through TIF. In the original agreement, the reimbursement to the developers through TIF was $1.8 million. With the amendment, that amount would be $1.925 million.

“It would be the same 20-year bond term,” she said. “It’s not a substantial change. There are no changes to the (redevelopment) boundary.”

TIF is a public financing method used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and other community improvement projects in many countries.

Through the use of TIF, municipalities typically divert future property tax revenue increases from a defined area or district toward an economic development project or public improvement project in the community.

Riggs said more renovations with electrical and gas systems were discovered during work on the project. The increase in reimbursement through TIF was requested for additional expenses incurred in the overall project.

Along with the Price Chopper and Dunkin’ Donuts stores, Riggs said the redevelopment will also include a pharmacy that will be added to the front of the building. He said a pharmacy was not in the initial project plan, but the developers were approached by a pharmacy group that asked to have a space in the store. The pharmacy is to be called Fort Scott Pharmacy. It is still under construction and will not be open Dec. 13, Riggs said.

“It will be a quicker payoff of the TIF with these other businesses,” Pruitt said.