ENID, Okla. — A new department store is closer to coming to Enid as a newly recommended rebate agreement was passed Tuesday night to help developers renovate part of the former Kmart building before leasing it to a new tenant.
The building’s developer, TLM Realty, is now eligible for a 2% sales tax rebate that will not exceed $1 million or 10 years, whichever comes first, according to the agreement Enid city commissioners unanimously approved after an executive session.
The incentive was recommended by Enid Regional Development Alliance (ERDA) Board of Directors last week.
The rebate would help offset “significant” costs to renovate the remaining 40,000 available square feet of the building at Garriott and Oakwood, according to a city press release.
A tenant for the vacant space ideally would be a department store that would carry a wide range of goods, including clothing, shoes and household items, according to the city.
TLM Realty is actively pursuing options for the tenant, ERDA previously stated.
Enid City Manager Jerald Gilbert said Tuesday that work was ongoing to get a lease signed, though he wouldn’t comment whether or not a specific tenant was in talks to sign a lease.
Current tenants in the building currently are Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight. Kmart closed in 2018.
“This retail clothing department store development in the old Kmart building fills the top retail sales tax gap in the city while completing the redevelopment of the old Kmart building,” Mayor George Pankonin said in the release.
No other action was taken following Tuesday’s closed executive session on an economic development proposal for a manufacturing business or on an existing reimbursement agreement with Love’s Travel Stop.
More information on the Love’s agreement, initially signed in 2014, is expected later.
Commissioners and city officials also discussed in executive session the 7.4-acre tract in The District, where a movie theater and trampoline park are specifically expected to be built.
Development was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly after commissioners had approved offering a $3.5 million rebate for Apex Cinemas to develop the theater tract. That agreement also had been ERDA-negotiated and recommended.
Article by: Alex Ewald – Enid News and Eagle 6.15.21
Photo by: Billy Hefton