Costco closes on OKC land sale
Costco has officially landed. Months after Costco Wholesale Corp. won incentives from the city to open a location here, land negotiations have finally culminated with the company’s $6.6 million purchase of 16.49 acres at 13200 N Western from cardiologist Dr. A.S. Dahr.
The deal with Dahr Properties Memorial closed Sept. 26, according to the Oklahoma County Assessor’s office. Costco filed building permit applications in May to build a 160,511-square-foot retail warehouse and 8,126-squarefoot fuel station — the first Costco store in the Oklahoma City metro area.
The warehouse is estimated to cost almost $21.6 million and the fuel facility will cost more than $1.7 million.
When completed, the property will have access to the John Kilpatrick Service Road on the north side of the property and Western to the west.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma City Council authorized negotiations for a $3 million economic development incentive to bring Costco to the city. The company submitted plans to invest about $15 million for the construction of what was estimated to be 150,000 square feet of commercial space, but both those figures were surpassed by the amounts listed in the building permits.
The proposed $3 million incentive is a performancebased sales tax reimbursement. A portion of sales tax generated at a new Costco would be
given back to the store over the course of several years until the $3 million threshold is met.
Costco receives rebates only for what is considered newly generated tax under the agreement.
The city estimates it will take four to five years until Costco receives its full incentive amount.
The economic incentive was unanimously recommended to the members of the Oklahoma City Council by the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust earlier this year. City staff project Costco
will generate about $600,000 to $1.1 million annually in new City General Fund sales tax in its first six years of operation.
The company plans to hire between 150 and 200 employees for the new store.
The company says its starting wage is $13.50 per hour, with the average
hourly wage more than $23 per hour.
Costco is known for its warehouse-style bulk shopping experience. It originated in San Diego in 1976 and has 500 stores in the United States. Costco has a store in Tulsa.
The Oklahoma City business expects to open by April.