By Andy Sevilla.
Once the holiday shopping slows and the New Year’s sales end, plans to construct a 156,000 square-foot Walmart in Kyle should gain steam, as the national retailer will let the project sometime in January.
Kyle Economic Development Director Diana Blank said that as of the latest update, Walmart will seek bids for contract in January, with construction planned to begin in the spring.
“A local Walmart means more availability and options for products and goods in Kyle,” Blank said. “It will be a major contributor to generation of new tax dollars that in return reduces the local tax burden on residents.”
Despite several other large box retailers setting up roots in Kyle first, Walmart’s decision to roll out the carpet in the rapidly growing city along a major U.S. interstate proves the local economy is strong and its retail need is still underserved, according to city officials.
“They (Walmart) have done their homework and clearly proven the demand (in Kyle) is large enough to support it,” Blank said.
With open arms, city officials await Walmart’s construction with the hope that the national retailer will spur additional development. As the city generates more sales taxes, Kyle’s purse gets bigger thereby increasing resources for existing and future projects, and potentially reducing the property tax burden on homeowners.
“The more spin off and additional development that occurs, the more the city property and sales tax base grow,” Blank said. “… This would also assist with growing city services to meet and keep up with the demands of the continuously growing population of the city, while also allowing an opportunity to explore a more aggressive approach to recruiting other non-retail target companies and employers.”
Kyle’s business landscape is ever-changing as new developments make their way into the city. Drivers along Interstate 35 in Kyle can see several projects under construction both on the east and west of the highway, and particularly centered around Kyle Parkway.
FM 1626/Kyle Parkway has quickly surfaced as the city’s commercial corridor, with existing big box retailers, restaurants, banks, a growing medical sector, the Austin Community College (ACC) and the location for the soon-to-be constructed Walmart.
The city has also banked on ACC spurring additional economic development as countless college students will begin making their way to the FM 1626 and Kohler’s Crossing area once the campus opens for the 2014 Spring semester.
Talks of Kyle joining the Lone Star Rail District (LSTAR), which plans a 118-mile passenger rail project connecting south San Antonio north to Georgetown, are ongoing though city leaders are skeptical of joining the district as rail representatives seek 50 percent of Kyle’s future tax growth for 80 years.
If Kyle council members agree to join, the passenger rail project would bring a train stop station to the FM 1626 and Kohler’s Crossing area, right next to the ACC campus. Once city officials agree to join the district, LSTAR would begin collecting 50 percent of sales and property tax growth within a half-mile radius of the planned train station.
Council members voiced discontent in an October workshop about LSTAR seeking half of the generated tax growth around the proposed train station, because they said ACC, on its own, will spur economic development in the area and the rail project would benefit from revenue created outside of a future train stop.
LSTAR representatives told Kyle council members at the workshop that their acquisition of sales and property tax growth is paramount to sustaining a train station in the city. The representatives maintained that the proposed station would generate economic development that would otherwise not move into Kyle.
Kyle has several businesses that would generate increased economic development activity in its pipeline, and one – LSTAR – that could help bring in more dollars to the city, as rail patrons from San Antonio north to Austin, Round Rock and Georgetown would stop in the burgeoning exurb.
“Prospective businesses and investors watch the success of existing businesses and local economies,” Blank said.
“The more offerings a community has to offer, the more options residents have; and everyone likes to have options,” she said. “Shop Kyle. It is a statement that I hope all Kyle residents will make a mantra. Supporting local business definitely helps everyone.”
