Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Ronnie Cobb expects the Catoosa Commission to call a special meeting this week to approve a contract completing 18-month-long negotiations for Project Hilltop.
“It’s getting close,” said Mr. Cobb, declining to identify the company involved.
Most officials have remained tight-lipped about the potential suitor for the land at Interstate 75 and Cloud Springs Road, but an official with the Catoosa County Water Board confirmed the panel had discussed Costco Wholesale in an open meeting.
Officials have said the retailer wants to be open by August, and attorneys on both sides have been hammering out the legal paperwork over the last two weeks.
Officials would not disclose the details of the contract.
In the meantime, Costco’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti discussed details about the warehouse club while not confirming a potential Catoosa location.
An up-and-running Costco employs about 300 workers, with about 60 percent full-time, he said in a phone interview.
$11 starting wage
The lowest starting wage is $11 an hour, with the average hourly pay around $19, he said.
A new store would probably employ between 150 and 180 at first, Mr. Galanti said.
The CFO also discussed expansions, saying the company was not aiming expansion at any particular region of the country, but was looking for the best opportunities.
Mr. Galanti said Costco plans to open 16 to 20 stores in this fiscal year, which runs through August.
That figure is down from pre-recession norms of about 26 locations a year, he said.
customers come from 40 miles away
In rural areas, the stores can draw customers from 20, 30 or even 40 miles away, Mr. Galanti said, matching an estimate an industry expert had previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Individual stores bring in an annual average of $135 million in revenue per store, $20 million more than a previously reported 2005 estimate, Mr. Galanti said.
Under the updated figures, local governments and schools would stand to bring in as much as $4 million in tax revenue each year.
Mr. Galanti said Costco occasionally leases property or buildings, but owns about 80 percent of the property where it operates.