City approves $90 million expansion and emergency reading for Nuuly industrial project

Raymore — The City Council voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the city’s Chapter 100 industrial development plan that authorizes an additional $90,000,000 in industrial development revenue bond capacity for Urban SR LLC’s Nuuly Phase 2 expansion and carried the ordinance on an emergency second reading. The amendment supplements a 2023 plan and raises total allowable bond capacity for the project to $205,000,000. City staff and project counsel said Nuuly has accelerated its investment timeline and will expand into the remaining roughly 400,000 square feet at the Raymore Commerce Center, increasing its capacity and equipment purchases. City staff said the expanded capacity was originally projected for 2028 but Nuuly wants to begin equipment purchases before Sept. 1 to take advantage of current pricing and delivery windows. Miss Lee, a city staff presenter, summarized the request as “the approval of increased bond capacity for phase 2 for Urban SR LLC,” and said the expansion would allow Nuuly to take the remaining 400,000 square feet, completing a 1,000,000-square-foot building footprint. Sarah Granath, counsel with Gilmore & Bell, said the additional capacity supplements the existing plan rather than replacing it and described the proposed abatement terms: “The plan outlines the same abatement terms for this additional $90,000,000 as exists for the existing abatement. That is approximately 93%, for 10 years on the personal property.” Granath said the developer’s payment in lieu of taxes on the additional equipment would be about 7% and estimated that the extra investment would generate roughly $117,000 in incremental tax revenue to taxing districts over the 10-year abatement period. David Fronte of the Stinson Law Firm, representing Nuuly, told the council the company’s growth has accelerated: “We had anticipated a $105,000,000 of investment through 2028, and now we're gonna be over $200,000,000 by the end of by 2026,” and described a hiring projection of about 1,800 new jobs over the next three years on top of the company’s current 950 employees. The ordinance package includes an omnibus amendment of the 2023 bond documents and an emergency services agreement with South Metropolitan Fire Protection District, with South Metro agreeing to continue the same abatement terms it accepted in 2023. The city’s staff said the omnibus amendment will streamline accounting and trustee handling by amending existing documents rather than issuing an independent second bond series. Councilmember Delgado moved to approve the ordinance and requested an emergency reading so Nuuly could begin equipment purchases; the motion passed 8–0 after the council conducted the emergency second reading and roll-call vote. The ordinance states the additional capacity will reduce the final year of the overall abatement schedule compared with the original timeline (the city had noted the equipment would return to the tax rolls sooner than under the 2023 projection). The city clerk will attest the mayor’s signature for the ordinance to take effect immediately. No taxing districts appeared in person to protest the plan during the meeting; staff said notice of the Phase 2 plan was mailed to taxing jurisdictions on Aug. 4 as required by statute. The council approved the emergency second reading and adoption of the ordinance, authorizing the mayor and city officials to execute the necessary amendment and bond documents and emergency services agreement.