Staff photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press – In this file photo, construction is going on at the Costco site on Cloud Springs Road. Some local officials worry that incentives offered to Costco might become the rule for other businesses looking at locating in Catoosa County.Fort Oglethorpe recently approved its share of $900,000 in incentives to help lure a Kroger supermarket to Ringgold, Ga., but the new mayor says government officials have “opened up a can of worms” by offering perks to retailers.
Catoosa County, Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe took out a loan to prepare land for a Costco Warehouse Club that opened in October. They plan to do the same for Kroger if the Cincinnati-based supermarket chain decides to build a store on Battlefield Parkway in Ringgold.
“That’s the one that opened up Pandora’s box,” said Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Lynn Long, referring to the Costco deal. “The reality is that precedent that has already been set.”
Long said Costco is the first retailer to receive incentives to locate in the county and he expects Kroger and most other prospective retailers to ask for similar incentives.
The county government bought the $4.8 million Costco site, pumped about $4.5 million into improving the land, then sold it to the retailer for $4.8 million. The Kroger project would include $904,000 in sewer, stormwater and environmental work.