The East Ridge Industrial Development Board recently approved an agreement with Art Holdings Tennessee for a retail project that will include a Scooter’s Coffee in the city’s Border Region Development District.
Retail businesses within the district, which covers most of East Ridge, approved for the program can recoup the capital cost of improvements made on their site by receiving a portion of state sales tax revenue increases generated by the business.
In addition to Scooter’s Coffee, the proposed development at 1491 Mack Smith Road includes an adjacent 2,400-square-foot retail unit that is being considered by several national tenants, including a food retailer that’s not in the area, developer Ross Timoshchuk of Art Holdings told the board.
“This is something that we’re excited about, because it allows us to be competitive to attract a coffee retailer of the quality of Scooter’s Coffee, and it allows us to attract one in an area that has seen a significant amount of retail growth,” City Attorney Mark Litchford said at the Industrial Development Board meeting.
Founded in 1998, Nebraska-based Scooter’s Coffee is a drive-through coffee business focused on fast service that has more than 200 locations across the U.S., according to the company’s website.