Construction is expected to begin on a second Walmart in Bryan, located off Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Villa Maria Road within the next 30 days.
They have 18 months to get it completed but they will probably get it done in less than a year, said Dennis Goehring, director of economic development for the city of Bryan.
The new Walmart is projected to have an impact on the taxpayers of Bryan.
It will be a positive cash flow back to the taxpayers because you are going to have values of $30 to $40 million of entities to be taxed. There are no tax abatements; there are no incentives in terms of tax abatements or anything like that. The only money the city is putting in is to put up a speed light at Jaguar Street and Villa Maria Road, Goehring said.
Although the city is not putting any money
upfront, it is putting a different deal on the table.
We did agree to give them x percent of the sales tax if they complete and build this whole thing out to the magnitude they stated. But thats not money out of our pocket, thats money they earn to get it. Thatll go over a 50-year period of time., Goehring said.
The land that Walmart will be purchasing will cost close to $9 million, while the store itself will cost about $15 million.
They are going to be adding another 150,000 square feet, so close to 300,000 square feet of property out there. The real draw is to get other tenants to come out there and kind of cohort the project with them, Goehring said.
The city of Bryan spoke with Walmart three to four years back about a similar idea of bringing a second location to Bryan but officials said the market wasnt ready for them to come in.
Then these guys came by just about a year ago and were looking for a location and I just said the west side is where the growth is going to be. Then they did their research and they agreed, and thats how they made a decision to come out there, Goehring said.
While the city is positive that bringing a second Walmart to Bryan will affect the community in a good way, surrounding neighborhoods and residents have their own opinions.
That actually doesnt seem like a good location. There isnt much development in that direction and there probably wont be in the future because all of that land along 47 is owned by A&M. I dont know what the traffic counts are around the new Walmart, but I still doubt its enough, said Matt Prekosovich, land and property development graduate student at Texas A&M.
While some might not be as warm to the new location, others welcome it.
There is already an HEB in a convenient location but having a 24-hour Walmart would be great for those living in West Bryan, said Cody Kuecker, junior sports management major.