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Nebraska Furniture Mart plans to build a $1.5 billion development in suburban Dallas, anchored by its newest, largest retail store. The plan is for construction to start next spring with the first phase opening by May 2015.
The development, as yet unnamed, would occupy a vacant 433-acre plot along a busy highway corridor near The Colony, Texas, and would include a regional headquarters for the Furniture Mart, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha.
Robert Batt, mart executive vice president, said Wednesday that the financing is in place, although many details are still being worked out. "Remember who we're related to," he said, referring to cash-rich Berkshire, the company headed by Warren Buffett.
"We're going to make it unlike anything that has been seen in Texas," Batt said. "We want to get it up and operating as soon as we can. ... There's a lot of land and a lot of people there."
As a comparison, Sarpy County's Southport East and West developments — home of the Embassy Suites Convention Center, Cabela's, PayPal and other businesses — occupy a combined 252 acres.
City of The Colony documents outline plans for larger development by the end of 2020.
Batt said negotiations are under way for a theme park on the Texas property, and the development would include other retailers, hotels, a convention center, restaurants and residences. "Everything's possible," he said.
The Mart's new store would employ about 1,700 people and also create "a lot" of jobs in Omaha, which will remain the company's headquarters, Batt said. More merchandisers, logistics workers, call center employees and others in Omaha will be needed to handle the increased sales, although the Texas store's warehousing and most other functions will be handled locally.
The other retailers would offer goods besides the Mart's furniture, electronics, flooring and appliances, he said, such as women's clothing.
The Mart, founded in Omaha in 1937 by the late Rose Blumkin, opened its second major store in Kansas City, Kan., in 2003. A smaller outlet is in Des Moines. The Mart has about 2,900 employees in Omaha and Kansas City.
The Dallas project would be the first developed by the Furniture Mart itself. In Kansas City, its store is part of a development that includes the Kansas Speedway and a Cabela's. Its Omaha store is a multibuilding complex that started in a tornado-damaged office building.
Batt said final construction contracts for the new project aren't signed, the land purchase isn't final, a design isn't completed and even the name of the development and the name of the new furniture store are under study. It might be called the Nebraska Furniture Mart, but it might be called something else, he said.
Even so, Batt said, "everything's in place to make the project happen. We have a big vision of what it would look like, and we've got a while to go before we put the deal together."
The project has the support of local government agencies, Batt said, including the city council in The Colony, which approved the development plan Tuesday night.
The land has no roads, sewers or water, he said, so the project will seek tax increment financing, which diverts new taxes generated by the development to go toward site improvements. But the city said no other tax funds would be involved in the project.
Batt said the land is owned by Maharishi International, a spiritual group, which had planned to build the world's tallest structure there.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com
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