Windsor to build second King Soopers as Northern Colorado's population set to double
Ten years ago, the Town of Windsor in Northern Colorado was made up of only 20,000 residents and only needed one King Soopers and one Safeway. However, in the past decade Windsor, Severance and Timnath have all rapidly expanded, creating a new demand for another grocery store in town.
After years of searching for a location and even negotiating to buy the Clearview Library District's property, Windsor says a second King Soopers is now in the works.
Town Manager Shane Hale told CBS News Colorado the town started discussing the need for a new King Soopers with the company eight years ago.
"As our current store become completely overwhelmed, they have become more engaged," Hale said.
"(The current store) is very busy," said Cecil Horn, a Severance resident who drives into Windsor for his groceries.
For more than a year, the town attempted to purchase the Clearview Library land located in the northwest corner of Highway 392 and Main Street for the next store location. The town needed to make the purchase as the library's rules and regulations said they were unable to sell the property to anyone other than the town.
The town then planned to turn and sell the land to King Soopers.
However, the library was reluctant to put the land up for sale. Eventually they made the decision to offer the land for sale in exchange for money, a percentage of sales tax generated from future property business and access to similarly prime land in Windsor.
"They thought their property was worth more than what we were willing to spend," Hale said.
After months of negotiations, King Soopers has now entered a sale agreement for the property across the street from Clearview's land.
"The town gave (King Soopers) $6 million in incentives. That is a combination of fee waivers and tax abatement," Hale said.
The town will help waive many fees and will return millions of dollars in sales tax collected from the business to help offset construction costs.
"Probably the most common refrain we get from our residents is the lack of grocery on the east side of town and the need for another store," Hale said. "so, it seemed like a good investment to make."
Because many of the people shopping at the future store will come from Severance, the Town of Windsor has agreed to share 10% of sales tax revenue generated from the store with Severance. However, Severance will also be required to foot 10% of the $6 million being offered to King Soopers upfront.
This means Windsor will now have two King Soopers locations on the same road within two miles of each other.
"From the town's standpoint, as long as it is in our community and the town gets the revenue while addressing the residents' need, it is a win for us," Hale said.
"I'll be 85 (years-old) in January. So, it is nice to get as close as you can," Horn said. "I hope they have a little more parking, for one thing. And, it is closer to home."
King Soopers declined to interview for this story and did not share the price they were paying for the land purchased. However, they issued the following statement:
"We are grateful for the support of the Town of Windsor as we continue to work together to bring another store to the community. We remain committed to this project and look forward to serving our customers with increased access to fresh, affordable food and other essentials."
