🎥 New retail development CID request moves on to public hearing

dave-christie — Developer Dave Christie with Ellis Co. Coalition Exec. Dir. Aaron White (L) and project attorney Ferdinand Niemann (R) at Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Hays city commissioners voted Thursday 4-1 to move forward with another CID (Community Improvement District) request for economic development north of I-70, although this CID petition is somewhat different than previous ones. The petition requests the district be created prior to the identification of a specific project. The CID would allow the developer to more aggressively market the property.

retail-cid-request-map — The proposed retail development would be located on 9.1 acres at the northeast corner of I-70 and Vine Street.

Developer Dave Christie of Hays Investors, LLC, Stillwell, Kan., wants to construct a building with approximately 73,000 square feet of retail space directly north of the Home Depot. The development would consist of a 50,000 square foot building to be used by a national retailer and another 23,000 square feet of retail space. Estimated cost of the retail project is $13.67 million.

Hays Investors requests a 22-year, 1% CID sales tax to reimburse the developer on a pay‐as‐you‐go basis for $3.6 million of CID‐eligible expenses. The CID sales tax is estimated to generate approximately $3.7 million for CID‐eligible expenses over the 22 years.

Christie told city commissioners he “currently has two signed letters of intent on this property for about 35,000 feet and I’m working on one other anchor and then I can start the project. I’m really excited about this.”

There will be a restriction in the development agreement that would dissolve the district if certificates of occupancy for 73,000 square feet of retail space are not issued within 36 months of approval of the CID. That restriction is somewhat reassuring to the commission.

“I hope we don’t have to wait three years before we know what’s coming,” Mayor Shaun Musil said. “We did this (approved a CID) and haven’t really seen a lot even though it’s starting to look nice but we haven’t really heard a lot from them.

“My whole goal is we would bring some retail (shops) to our community and get our city sales tax revenues to where they need to be,” Musil added. “Hopefully, you’ll let us know as soon as possible.”

rupp-102716 — Ten of the last twelve months experienced a notable decrease in city sales tax receipts, down $365,156 or 4.85 %, according Hays Finance Director Kim Rupp.

Sales tax collections for Hays have been down ten of the past 12 months, as reported by City Finance Director Kim Rupp during his September Financial Statement review earlier in the meeting. Rupp called it “a notable decrease” of $365,156 or 4.85 %.

Commissioner Henry Schwaller voted against the CID request. “This is the second time at the well. We were promised this development when the Home Depot was built. When Home Depot was built, the commission asked and received a letter of intent from the retailer that they would occupy the building. We have no letters of intent tonight.

“Most troubling is we have a lot of commercial vacancies….It’s really a renter’s market, not an owner’s market. Even with the incentive, this is going to be tough,” Schwaller believes.

“In my opinion, if nothing happens within 36 months and nothing is built, the city is really out nothing. Unfortunately, moving into the future, if that would be the case, that makes it a bad situation to talk about this type of incentive,” said Commissioner James Meier, who voted in favor of the CID request.

The public hearing for the retail development CID request is Tue., Nov. 22, during the city commission meeting. Commissioners will not meet Thursday of that week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.