Truth Staff
ELKHART -- The city administration is asking the city council to support a tax break for a new south-side Kroger store.
If approved, it would be the first tax abatement for a retail project in Elkhart, city officials have said.
City planning staff has recommended council approval of a phase-in of property taxes over five years. That means the store, scheduled to open next summer, would over the course of five years go from paying no property taxes to paying a full tax bill -- an estimated $86,710 a year.
All told, Kroger's tax saving would be an estimated $260,150, according to records on file with the city.
The store would replace the existing Kroger at 131 W. Hively Ave., at what is now Pierre Moran Mall.
Kroger Co. and city officials announced the nearly $10 million project at a news conference this week, saying the new store would include a drive-through pharmacy, wider selection of merchandise other than groceries and a gasoline station.
At 75,000 square feet, it would be double the size and located just north of the 21-year-old Kroger store in operation at Pierre Moran.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall, with no interruption in business at the old store until the new one opens.
The new store will be an anchor at what will become Woodland Crossing, the strip shopping center that will replace Pierre Moran Mall.
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