Provo RDA outlines Lakeview Parkway CRA; Walmart proposal seeks up to $8.9M in city support

Provo's Redevelopment Agency on Dec. 16 presented a proposed Lakeview Parkway community reinvestment area (CRA) and a linked cost-benefit analysis for a Walmart supercenter that would anchor mixed retail and rental townhomes.

RDA Director Melissa McNally said the project-area plan covers parcels adjacent to Lakeview Parkway, the Epic Sports Park and airport-support lands. She said the area plan is intended to support infill and commercial opportunities and that, at this time, no property-tax increment is planned; incentives under consideration would be sales-tax based and targeted to specific developers.

Cody Hill, Provo's economic-development division director, presented the Walmart cost-benefit analysis. Hill said extraordinary site-development costs (earthwork to raise site elevation, storm-drain work, and additional Utah Department of Transportation interchange improvements) have risen since earlier estimates and now approach $13.3 million. To cover a portion of those costs the developer is asking the city/RDA for up to $8.9 million in assistance composed of: $1 million of previously unallocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, roughly $1 million in available fill/dirt from another municipal project, and a post-performance sales-tax incentive of about $6.9 million.

Hill said the project's projected gross sales at build-out are roughly $199 million annually; the state-defined sales-tax increment for the site is modeled at about $1 million a year, but Hill emphasized that the city's "true additional" sales (non-cannibalized revenue from outside the city) is smaller and that the incentive structure is designed as post-performance, with repayment expected in roughly 13 years or at most the 20-year CRA duration. His analysis estimated a long-term additional revenue benefit to Provo of roughly $14.8 million and a net benefit after incentives of about $5.9 million over the modeled period.

Council members pressed staff on key risks: (1) the sensitivity of project economics to higher UDOT and interchange costs (staff acknowledged estimates were still being refined), (2) sales-tax cannibalization of existing Provo businesses, and (3) nonfinancial concerns raised by adjacent landowners.

Several councilors, led by Becky Bogdan, urged expanded outreach to local farmland owners, particularly the Hinkley family, and to the Agricultural Commission. Bogdan and others said including agricultural parcels in the CRA—even with protections stated by staff—has generated worry among long-time farmers who fear being "pushed out." McNally said staff had mailed notices, had spoken with the Agriculture Commission and had sent a courtesy notice to the Hinkley family; she reiterated the plan does not change property rights or zoning without separate action.

On environmental and infrastructure questions, staff said wetland protections are governed by city code (sensitive-lands chapter) and federal permitting (Army Corps), and that limited tax-increment funds could be dedicated to mitigation only if findings show it benefits the CRA. Regarding traffic, the development team said frontage improvements, a new signal, and right-in/right-out access are part of the public-improvement package; UDOT's analysis increased interchange-cost estimates and is still refining final scope.

The RDA and council set follow-ups: staff will invite the Agricultural Commission for the January presentation, refine UDOT cost estimates and interchange scope, and produce clearer maps of parcels in and adjacent to the CRA. The RDA expects a term sheet and a development agreement to return in January, with the council's formal CRA hearing scheduled for Jan. 13.

Sources and attributions: presentation and figures described by Cody Hill (Economic Development Division) and Melissa McNally (RDA Director). Direct quotes in coverage come from those presenters during the Dec. 16 meeting.

Next steps: the RDA and council asked staff to increase direct outreach to affected landowners and to return with updated cost estimates and a draft development agreement at the Jan. 13 meeting.