Industrial Development Board approves Whataburger development agreement at 6521 Ringgold Road

The Industrial Development Board of the City of East Ridge on Feb. 20, 2025, approved a development agreement with BKW Properties LLC to redevelop the former Wally’s site at 6521 Ringgold Road, with a Whataburger identified as the proposed tenant.

City Attorney Mark read the resolution caption and summarized the project, saying the estimated total development cost is about $3,780,000 and that the developer projects roughly $4 million in taxable sales beginning in fiscal 2025 with a conservative 2% annual growth assumption. "This is a great win for the city and the state," Mark said, explaining the agreement is structured to be performance-driven and that the border-region tax allocation is paid only from state taxable sales generated by the project.

Under the proposal presented to the board, the property carries a sizable baseline tied to prior activity in the district and, after that baseline is achieved, tax revenues allocated to the border region would be split 90% to the developer and 10% to the city. Mark described the baseline language as a challenge for the developer but said the 90/10 split was necessary for the project to be economically attractive. He said the city still will realize an aggregate amount of just under $300,000 over the life of the project in addition to meeting the baseline requirement.

Mark and staff explained that references to Bass Pro in the agreement reflect the historical role that an anchor retailer played in certifying the border-region district; the Bass Pro provisions are standard language and do not change the proposed allocation for this site. Mark said the border-region program ties incentives to actual sales, noting repeatedly that the agreement imposes no payment obligation on the city unless the developer generates the sales tax revenue.

A representative for BKW Properties described project coordination with city staff and consultants and provided a tentative timeline: a groundbreaking in about two months and a target completion by year-end, subject to permitting. The representative said building plans have been submitted and that a demolition plan was expected within one to two weeks.

After brief discussion and questions about the Bass Pro references and the timeline, a board member moved to approve the resolution and another seconded. Miss Qualls conducted a roll call; Vice Chairman Lance and board members Scribe, Green, Jones, Pamplin and Chairman Hoggle voted yes. The board approved the resolution.

The resolution approved the execution and delivery of a development agreement between the Industrial Development Board and BKW Properties LLC relating to a project in the Border Region Retail Tourism Development District at 6521 Ringgold Road. The agreement and exhibits in the board packet include site renderings and standard border-region attachments.