Early completion will boost city's tax coffers sooner than expected.
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, June 10, 2006IKEA is moving up the opening of its Round Rock store to this fall, instead of the originally planned spring 2007 date.
The furniture retailer, whose supersize stores sell affordable, contemporary design household furnishings, said construction is moving faster than scheduled at the site at Interstate 35 and University Boulevard.
"Due to the significant progress made since breaking ground in March, we are confident remaining construction milestones and the interior build-up process will be completed months ahead of schedule," said Doug Greenholz, IKEA real estate manager.
The 252,000-square-foot store will be IKEA's third in Texas. It will have a staff of 300 and amenities including a 250-seat restaurant and a children's play area.
"It's going very smoothly, and we're very excited," said IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth.
Roth declined to provide a figure for the store's annual payroll or a salary range for employees.
The opening will mean a boost in sales tax dollars for Round Rock, which last year approved up to $5 million in sales tax incentives and property tax breaks to IKEA Group.
By opening three to six months earlier than expected, the store could generate 25 percent to 30 percent more tax dollars for the ensuing fiscal year, said David Kautz, Round Rock's assistant city manager and chief financial officer.
The IKEA store is expected to add about $31 million in taxable value to Round Rock's tax rolls. And as the 42 retail acres around the IKEA site are developed by Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group, it could mean at least an additional $52 million boost to the rolls, Kautz said.
Once built out, the IKEA and Endeavor projects are expected to generate city property taxes of about $308,000 per year, Kautz said. But IKEA's real impact goes beyond the taxes it will generate, said Jim Nuse, Round Rock's city manager.
The IKEA and the Round Rock Premium outlet mall, set to open in early August, will bring 6 million to 7 million people a year to shop at that intersection. "And the vast majority of those shoppers will be coming from outside of Round Rock," Nuse said.
"It's been a lot of work to bring in these destination retailers, and our investment is starting to come to fruition," he added. "Round Rock will be a shopping destination this Christmas."
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