Tooele City reports surge in retail and industrial investment; multiple national chains announced

John Perez, Tooele City economic development director, told the City Council on July 16 that the city is seeing a notable increase in commercial activity, with several national retailers and restaurants opening or scheduled to open in coming months. Perez said new and soon-to-open businesses in Tooele City include: Chipotle and Wingstop (now open), Hobby Lobby (open), Ulta Beauty (targeted Sept. 5), Five Below (July 18), TJ Maxx and Sierra Trading Post (Aug. 24), Bath & Body Works (Sept. 12), and other retailers. He also listed new food or service tenants planned near the SR‑36/2400 North area, including Smith’s Marketplace likely to house an internal Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s, Beans & Brews, Chase Bank, Tropical Smoothie and McDonald’s. Perez said Microtel and Home2 Suites Hilton additions will make the hospitality figures more accurate for Tooele City in future reports. The council discussed industrial growth at the Peterson Industrial Depot. Perez said assessed value in that depot has increased by more than $306 million over the past four years. A separate council speaker noted that the RDA tax increment there has expired and that the school district will now receive the full tax revenues previously captured under the RDA. Perez summarized the city’s lead-generation pipeline: five restaurant contacts, two retail/hospitality leads, six requests for information (RFIs) submitted in the quarter and one hosted site visit in April (Project Neighborhood). He told the council the city submitted RFIs to EDC Utah and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity; a few prospects remain in evaluation and one European company is waiting on tariff developments. Perez also updated the council on several local sites: a business park conceptual plan (Somos) is pending final engineering review and may go to the planning commission; the Broadway property (former hotel/apartments) has had a building removed and a Phase II environmental assessment for the apartment side is still pending. He said the city saved over $300,000 on building removal costs. Perez reported strong social media metrics for the city’s economic accounts and said a strategic design plan is being finalized with EDC Utah. Why this matters: council members and staff said bringing sales-tax-generating businesses to Tooele is a priority for local revenue and affordability goals. Council members praised Perez and RDA staff for recent results and noted that new commercial development will generate both property and sales tax revenue for the city and other taxing entities. The presentation drew questions from council members about specific properties (for example, the long-vacant bowling-alley site) and timing of planning commission review for the business-park concept. Perez and other staff said some items are awaiting final engineering or environmental reports; no formal council action was requested beyond receiving the update. Less urgent details: Perez said some prospect activity has slowed compared with earlier quarters and that hotel occupancy (hospitality) is about 67% for the season. He noted that some retail openings have specific target dates but others (e.g., Cafe Zuppa, Zao) do not yet have firm timelines.