Fort Worth council considers deal for 2nd outlet mall near Alliance

The city’s economic development director laid out plans Tuesday for an outlet mall off Interstate 35W in far north Fort Worth that could create 350 full-time jobs by 2020.

The Outlets at Alliance would be built on 115 acres north of Cabela’s near Alliance Airport. A City Council vote on the project is set for March 22.

The outlet mall would be about 580,000 square feet, with 330,000 square feet for outlet retail space, and the remaining space for big-box retail, restaurants, a hotel or apartments, Economic Development Director Robert Sturns said during a pre-council meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Potential retail tenants could include H&M, Vera Bradley, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess and Famous Footwear.

Sturns said the companies have not signed letters of intent, but those are examples of retailers the developer is looking at.

Mayor Betsy Price asked how much the jobs would pay, to which Sturns said “retail” salary.

Because the project would be financed through a 15-year economic development deal, the council will have to vote on the agreement with Fort Worth-based Woodmont Land Co.

The developer would have to invest at least $100 million by Dec. 31, 2019, which is the completion date for the project.

Hiring should be underway by 2020, Sturns said after the meeting.

The privately owned company owns, manages and leases more than 15 million square feet of shopping centers in 17 states valued at over $4 billion.

The deal with the city would require that at least 30 percent of the hard construction costs go to Fort Worth contractors, and 25 percent to minority and women-owned businesses out of Fort Worth.

A minimum of $50,000 would go to Fort Worth companies annually for supplies and services during the 15-year term, and a minimum of $25,000 annually would go to Fort Worth minority and women-owned businesses.

The developer in return would get a refund of up to 85 percent on the city’s 1 cent sales tax.

Sturns emphasized that Woodmont would not get tax refunds from other entities.

“For the purposes of this agreement, they are going to build a site that will generate a certain amount of sales tax per year, and the city is going to turn around and write a check back to the company refunding them over 15 years,” he said.

He said Woodmont would be eligible for up to $20 million over those 15 years.

If approved, the Outlets at Alliance would be the city’s second outlet mall. Construction has already begun on Tanger Outlets across from Texas Motor Speedway at Champion Circle.

The owner of that land, Roanoke 35/114 Partners LP, is an entity of Fine Line Diversified Development Co., run by Fort Worth financier Ed Bass, Martin Bowen and Bill Boecker, Fine Line’s president and chief executive.

The three-phase, $235 million project was approved last year.

The first phase must be completed by 2018, Sturns said.

Councilman Dennis Shingleton, whose district includes the Tanger Outlets site, said he would like to see a side-by-side comparison of the two outlet mall projects.

“Only one of these outlet malls is going to succeed,” Shingleton said.

Sturns said council isn’t favoring one project over the other but merely saying that the market will dictate what happens.

Councilman Cary Moon said the city shouldn’t choose between the two projects, but let the “market guys go out there and fight it out.”

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Fort Worth council considers deal for 2nd outlet mall near Alliance."