Gilroy
– Wal-Mart Stores paid the city $2.1 million this week, further
paving the way for Northern California’s first Wal-Mart Supercenter
to make its debut in Gilroy.
The check covers all of Wal-Mart’s building, development and
impact fees, said Community Development Director John Greenhut.
Gilroy – Wal-Mart Stores paid the city $2.1 million this week, further paving the way for Northern California’s first Wal-Mart Supercenter to make its debut in Gilroy.
The check covers all of Wal-Mart’s building, development and impact fees, said Community Development Director John Greenhut. It is the single largest permit issued by the city’s building division that Greenhut and his staff are aware of, he said.
Wal-Mart is receiving no economic help from the city because it moved from one location in Gilroy to another location in Gilroy, thus disqualifying it from receiving city-issued economic incentives.
Construction of the new, 220,000-square-foot store has not yet begun. Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Berger said and no specific date for construction has been set, but the company hopes it will happen soon. Building the entire Supercenter will take about 10 months, he said.
Bill Lindsteadt, executive director of Gilroy’s Economic Development Corp. said construction is “full-speed ahead” once it begins, and he’s eager to see the new store open. Lindsteadt estimated the Supercenter will bring about $600,000 in annual sales tax to the city, which is about $120,000 more per year than the current 67,200-square-foot Wal-Mart at 7900 Arroyo Circle.
The new store is planned to go in at Pacheco Pass Center, a shopping complex on Camino Arroyo near the intersection of highways 101 and 152, and it will include a full supermarket in addition to the current Wal-Mart’s assortment of goods.
The Supercenter will employee 500 people, 250 of which will come from the current Wal-Mart, Lindsteadt said.
“People complain the jobs are low-paying, but every job is important,” he said. “It’s however people want to apply themselves.”
Lindsteadt also praised the company’s pattern of promoting from within and providing health benefits for its full-time employees, which make up 85 percent of the store’s workforce, he said.
Additionally, the new Wal-Mart will help the community at large, as it will give low-income families a place to buy food, clothing and other goods at an affordable price, he said.
After sifting through an abundance of economic, environmental and ethical arguments, the city council approved the Supercenter with a 5-2 vote in March.
But anti-Wal-Mart activists said the council overlooked environmental studies that showed the store will generate enough traffic to add to the area’s already unhealthy air quality levels.
Opponents also claimed the council made its decision without full knowledge of the store’s economic impact. Three economic studies had been conducted: One was 12 years old and did not take the Supercenter into account, another favorable study was paid for by Wal-Mart, and a third, less favorable study, was paid for by union interests.
In May, union workers disgruntled over the store’s arrival filed a lawsuit against the city, Wal-Mart Stores and the Newman Development Group, which is the company developing the retail complex that will include the Supercenter.
“In approving the project and certifying its (Environmental Impact Report), the City violated CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) in various ways which include, but are not limited to, the failure to conduct a study of the new Supercenter’s economic impacts capable of causing blight-like conditions …,” the lawsuit states.
Acting City Attorney Andy Faber said the litigation is ongoing, and a trial date of Nov. 12 has been set by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The proposed purchaser of the building Wal-Mart currently inhabits is Hudson Jones Commercial Brokerage of San Jose, Lindsteadt said.
Bill Cann, vice president of Hudson Jones, said the sale is in escrow until the lawsuit has been settled and would not disclose the purchase price until the sale closed. Lindsteadt mentioned he had heard a pricetag of $7 million for the building and property over a year ago, but he emphasized that the price likely has changed since then.
Cann said he currently is considering a variety of tenants for when the sale does close, including Sears and Burlington Coat Factory. But until things are settled and the old Wal-Mart moves out, the situation will remain stagnant, Cann said.
“One of the problems we’ve got is that I can’t tell a tenant, ‘This will be available someday,'” Cann said. “We’re the last clog in the wheel.”
