Huge shopping complex planned for Farmington; cost estimated $81 million

FARMINGTON -- Farmington Crossing, a 90-plus acre, $81 million shopping complex, is slated to be built just west of Highway 67. The Farmington City Council in mid-September approved a redevelopment plan submitted by Clayton, Mo.-based Koman Properties Inc.

The sprawling, 575,000-square-foot retail complex will be built in an area adjoining and north of the Maple Street overpass. The development would be bordered on the west by the new Woodlawn Drive/Bray Road corridor.

Plans call for the complex to be anchored by three large stores -- Home Depot, Target and a large retail grocer not yet named. Smaller, 30,000-square-foot retail outlets would be built around the anchor stores. Also, the proposal calls for about a dozen sites to be developed for restaurants and a variety of free-standing retail shops, and a movie theater and professional buildings might also be built.

Beth Simmons, membership manager at the Farmington Chamber of Commerce, said work could begin within a month. She said Koman Properties chose Farmington because "our demographics and location are very desirable for businesses."

According to Scott Haley, director of development for Koman Properties, current plans call for building the shopping complex in one phase. At a recent city council meeting, he said construction would not be complete for four or five years. Haley said there are contracts to finalize on assorted properties needed to build Farmington Crossing.

The complex is expected to generate about $145 million in annual retail sales and employ as many as 800 workers.

Koman Properties chose to build in Farmington because the city is a regional hub for a five-county area, Haley said. He said studies show a lot of retail sales are being lost to Cape Girardeau and South County St. Louis.

A cost benefit analysis initiated by city officials indicates $98 million to $100 million in annual retail sales are spent outside St. Francois County and neighboring counties. The study intimates the new shopping complex could retain about 85 percent -- or about $84 million -- of that revenue.

City administrator Greg Beavers said Koman Properties approached the city with its proposal in December 2005. He said $23 million of the cost of the development would come from the city's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan. Of that amount, $1,450,000 annually would be generated through a Community Improvement District (CID) tax

"The TIF district already existed where they (Koman Properties) want to build," said Beavers. "We didn't have a redevelopment agreement then, but we do now. Koman has 48 months under the TIF plan to complete their development. If they don't make that date, then there would be a deduction in the TIF money. But they think they can have it built within that time frame."

Beavers said about $3 million of the TIF money would be used to drill a deep well, build a new water tower, install sewer lines and construct a new electric substation. These infrastructure improvements, said Beavers, will occur without the city or taxpayers having to pay for them.