The Lawrence City Commission will consider approving a tax incentive district for a 5-acre development that is planned to eventually be home to a new Aldi grocery store and another retail business in northwestern Lawrence.
The project’s developers, Catalyst Property Group, are proposing an approximately $5.4 million development at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and George Williams Way.
They are asking the city to create a community improvement district. That would entail an additional 1% sales tax on purchases made in the development.
The additional revenue would be available to reimburse the developers for eligible costs related to the project, including a 20,000-square-foot building intended for Aldi, second 8,000-square-foot building, land grading and utility line extensions.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
According to the commission’s Tuesday meeting agenda, approximately $2.59 million — which is about 48% of the developer’s project budget — is attributable to eligible construction and sitework.
Please support
The Lawrence Times!
Subscribe here.
The city is recommending reimbursement of about $1.4 million of those eligible costs. When interest payments are factored in, that means a maximum of about $2.9 million could be directed from the CID tax to pay for the project. The tax would have a maximum term of 22 years.
City staff said that amount would limit the public funds pledged to the project, while still making the project feasible, according to the meeting agenda. Three-quarters of the project budget, or about $4 million, would remain privately funded, according to the agenda.
A third-party analysis from an independent financial adviser determined the project would not support a market-level return without the incentives, according to the meeting agenda.
To receive the tax incentives, the developer would finance the construction costs up front and then approach the city for reimbursement from the CID funds. The city would not take on debt or use any existing general fund or tax revenue for the project.
The city commission will hold a public hearing during their meeting before voting on the incentives.
The other retail business that would be part of the Aldi site in the 8,000-square-foot building has not yet been determined, according to the agenda.
The property is next to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church and the future site of Fire Station 6. A senior living community is proposed north of the Aldi site, according to the agenda.
See the complete agenda item at this link.
Meeting info
The commission’s meeting will start at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.
See the complete meeting agenda at this link.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to [email protected] until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually.
City commission meetings are no longer livestreamed on YouTube. In order to watch the meeting online remotely, attendees must join via Zoom at this link, which also allows participants to provide public comment virtually. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Cuyler Dunn (he/him), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2022. He can be reached at [email protected].
Read his complete bio at this link. Read more of his work for the Times at this link.
Latest Lawrence news:
August Rudisell/Lawrence TimesLawrence City Commission to consider tax breaks for Aldi in northwestern part of town
Maya Smith/Lawrence Times
Cuyler Dunn/Lawrence Times
Wulfe Wulfemeyer/Lawrence Times
