Costco Wholesale Club is seeking to open its second New Hampshire location at Seacoast Landing, the first prospective tenant revealed for the commercial development proposed to replace the Mall at Fox Run.
Torrington Properties, owner of the Mall at Fox Run and several adjacent commercial properties, included a 152,000- square-foot membership discount club in its plans for the massive project. Costco has filed paperwork to begin its review process in Newington.
The Newington Planning Board will hold a preliminary consultation for Costco’s pitch on Monday, April 27, according to the board agenda. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
Costco had a Portsmouth location in the past. Now, its only Granite State wholesale warehouse is located in Nashua. The Washington state-based retail giant has one store in Maine and seven in Massachusetts.
The company’s corporate media team said it does not comment on new locations unless they’re opening within three months’ time.
Costco has long been speculated by locals to be negotiating with Torrington as part of the Seacoast Landing plan. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a Portsmouth location less than one mile from the Mall at Fox Run.
Costco operates in every state in the U.S. except Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wyoming. The company additionally has five locations in Puerto Rico.
Torrington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, April 24.
What Torrington has proposed to replace the Mall at Fox Run
In March, the Planning Board approved Torrington’s subdivision plan for the 80-plus-acre Mall at Fox Run and Newington Park Shopping Center lots. Each of the existing buildings — the 43-year-old Mall at Fox Run and the old JCPenney, Sears, Macy’s, Savers and Party City stores — will be demolished, then the nine existing lots will be subdivided into six parcels.
The membership discount club is one of several elements of Torrington’s plan in overhauling the mall area.
An anchor tenant with two free-standing pad sites is planned, while a separate building would house 236,000 square feet of retail space. Another lot calls for 16,200 square feet of medical office space, while the sixth lot with four pad sites would be used as additional office and retail space. Torrington owns the existing Chick-fil-A property, which is noted in the plan.
A tree-lined boulevard through the development is proposed, rounding out the plan.
Terms of tax increment financing district finalized in Newington
Torrington and town officials have finalized the terms of a tax increment financing district that is proposed around the mall and Newington Park Shopping Center.
A TIF district leverages future property tax revenue to fund infrastructure needed for projects that will financially benefit the town in the future.
A special town meeting has been targeted for Saturday, May 30, as the TIF district needs to be approved by Newington voters. The razing of all the buildings spanning the 80-plus acres owned by Torrington is on hold until the special town meeting occurs.
The negotiated agreement between Torrington and the town calls for a warrant article proposing $9 million in improvements under a nine-year TIF that would end in March 2036.
The Newington Budget Committee approved the proposed warrant article in a Thursday, April 23, vote.
The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration did not object to the town’s special town meeting application. All that remains is submitting the request to Rockingham County Superior Court for approval.
If given the go-ahead by voters, Torrington’s proposed TIF district would be the first ever formed in Newington.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald.Reporting by Ian Lenahan.
