Jul. 18—Locations for the future site of a Menard's home improvements store have received final City Council approval as project areas for tax increment financing.
The council voted on second and third readings Monday night to approve the two project areas within the 32nd Street Place being developed by Woodsonia Joplin for TIF financing.
The council had given initial approval to make the two areas project sites and part of the TIF district on first reading in 2020 and then put them on hold until the developer requested final action.
A spokesman for Menard's told the Globe last month the company hopes to have a Joplin store open next year.
"Although no official opening date has been announced, if all goes as planned, we hope to open a new store and begin serving the home improvement needs of the great folks in Joplin and the surrounding region sometime in 2024," company spokesman Jeff Abbott said in a statement.
Three building permit applications had been filed with the city for Menard's construction as of the city's June report on building permits.
One was for a $8.5 million permit sought at 3317 S. Geneva Ave. for the Menards store. A second permit at that address for $812,000 was for the construction of a storage outbuilding. A third was filed for $150,000 to build a gatehouse at the entrance and exit to the lumber supply yard.
The property was sold to Menards by Woodsonia Joplin.
Drew Snyder, the Woodsonia president, told the Joplin City Council in February that Menards owns parcels adjoining the store site and 32nd Street where other businesses and restaurants could be built. But Menards has not shared any information with Woodsonia about plans for that property, he said.
The agreement between Woodsonia and Menards is that Woodsonia will install infrastructure for the store area and develop the east side of Hammons Boulevard while Menards will develop and build its store and any other buildings on the property that company owns.
A TIF district allows a developer to be paid half of the new taxes generated in a TIF district to repay specified costs. Those usually include infrastructure construction costs for streets and utilities, but also can include by agreement some other costs such as grading, stormwater-retention systems and others.
"When you passed that TIF," said Leslie Haase, the city's finance director, "at the same time the project areas are tabled until it's time for the developer to activate them. The developer has up to 10 years to activate their project areas, and the timing is important because that starts your clock on when you can collect the (TIF) revenues from the district. You have 23 years from the time you activate the district" to receive repayments from the TIF for the infrastructure construction.
One part of the project that had already been activated is where the Forvis accounting office is located at 3129 Hammons Blvd. next to Sam's Club. It is the former BKD firm. Also activated is the area where Woodsonia is building apartments on the east side of Hammons Boulevard, Haase said.