City Seeks Bids for Old Tyson Plant

— The City Council may have started a bidding war between two Iowa-based convenience store companies interested in buying a portion the former Tyson Mexican Original property at Huntsville and Happy Hollow roads.

At A Glance

State Of The City

Mayor Lioneld Jordan on Tuesday delivered his State of the City address, in which he reviewed projects city officials undertook in 2012 and have planned for 2013. To read the mayor’s address, go to nwaonline.com/docum….

Source: Staff Report

Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to reconsider selling the property to either Kum & Go convenience stores or Casey’s General Stores at their Feb. 5 meeting.

Both companies will have an opportunity to up the amount they're willing to spend on roughly 2 acres of the 10-acre property. The companies were invited to resubmit sealed bids, which would be

opened at the same time next month. Any additional offers must be received by Jan. 28, said Kit Williams, city attorney, on Tuesday.

Casey's General Stores submitted a $1 million offer to buy the city-owned property Monday, Williams said.

The offer topped the $900,000 Kum & Go offered in a Dec. 14 letter. Kum & Go matched Casey's $1 million offer Tuesday, Williams said.

Both companies have agreed to pay 25 percent of the cost of demolishing the former tortilla and corn chip factory at up to $100,000. Demolition costs were estimated in 2009 at $475,000.

The two companies are also willing to split the cost of a street that would connect Huntsville and Happy Hollow roads to Ray Avenue. City Engineer Chris Brown estimated overall street costs at $200,000 Tuesday.

“We have two fairly identical offers,” Williams said. “Both of these corporations are well-known and respected corporations that do quality development.”

Both Kum & Go and Casey’s have grown operations in Northwest Arkansas in recent years.

According to the company’s website, 14 Kum & Go stores are in Washington and Benton counties. That figure doesn’t include a gasoline station that recently opened at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Hill Avenue.

Larry McCredy, a Fayetteville attorney representing Casey’s, said the company has more than a dozen locations open or under construction in the two-county region. That includes one store that’s being built on Wedington Drive, McCredy said.

Rob Wadle, a Kum & Go real estate representative, said Tuesday it has taken Kum & Go representatives months to negotiate a potential purchase with city officials.

“I feel like we’ve been working on this for quite a while, and then we’re getting outbid the day before (City) Council,” Wadle said.

Mark Kinion, Ward 2 alderman, said the council needed to do its due diligence by entertaining each company’s best offer.

“I think it is important for us to consider tabling this, because this is an important piece of property, and it’s evident that there is interest in it,” Kinion said. “We need to look at this deliberately with as much information as we can.”

The city purchased the property for $1.1 million in 2005. The city paid more than $235,000 for utilities and property taxes between 2005 and 2007, according to a 2009 report by its Strategic Planning Department.

Through the purchase, the city acquired land used to widen Huntsville Road and to build a fire station.

According to Paul Becker, city finance director, the city will still have roughly 7 acres available for commercial or municipal purposes if the 2-acre lot is sold.

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