A major retailer is coming to Queen Creek, as Costco is rolling out its plans to bring a store to the town.
The Washington-based warehouse retailer has been among the more requested among town residents, city officials said.
“Since I’ve been in Queen Creek, at least the last several years, one of the major questions I’ve gotten is when are we going to get a Costco,” said Queen Creek Economic Development Director Doreen Cott. “I’m happy to be working with them and have them interested in our community, so it's been it's been good.”
And the talks aren’t merely preliminary.
“They have selected a location. It's the northwest corner of Ellsworth and Queen Creek roads,”” Cott said. “It's part of the QC Crossing commercial center. They submitted their site plan, and then on June 2 their conditional-use permit that they needed for the fueling station was approved by the town council."
When the city will have an open Costco, however, is still up in the air, Cott said.
"The technical aspects have been covered and now the next stages will be submitting building plans," she said. "So, until that happens and until they pull permits and actually start construction it's difficult to share any specific dates [of when it will open].
On it's website, Costco said it does not comment on locations that will be opening more than three months from the day of the request for comment.
Costco coming to Queen Creek is a testament to the town’s strong growth, Cott said. The demographics for the town not only show a growing population but also one with a strong median income.
It also speaks to the trade area Queen Creek touches on, including the San Tan Valley, border areas with Mesa and Gilbert and even Florence.
“Obviously they do their homework, they do significant due diligence on identifying sites that best meet their needs and potential,” Cott said. “It's just exciting for a Queen Creek site to be chosen and to have them progressing with their plans to make the store a reality. I think it speaks to our growth, our demographics and our larger trade area very positively.”
Cott said she and her economic development team had worked for the last several years to bring a Costco to Queen Creek, constantly keeping the company’s local broker apprised of the growth in the town.
“Finally, all the stars aligned and probably over a year ago the talks got a little bit more specific about the community and potential,” Cott said. “We worked with the property owner at QC Crossing -- obviously, they're a big part of this happening, as well. So, it's been well over a year that we've been really working in earnest on the site.”
But as always, in the world of economic development, Queen Creek had to give Costco some incentives.
“We have a development agreement with the land owners group, which outlined some things the town was willing to do to help bring a Costco to the community,” Cott said. “It included public infrastructure improvements. There were some roadways that needed to be improved to ensure that a big box like that has the access and the roadways appropriately sized. And then there were fee waivers.”
Cott and her team also works to keep Queen Creek top of mind with other large retailers “that we'd like to see in the community that are sales tax generators or will provide the amenities that our residents have asked for.”
Queen Creek is in talks with other large retailers, but as Constance Halonen-Wilson, communication and marketing manager for the town, said talks were in the preliminary stages.
She added however that a Fry’s Marketplace is already under construction at the northeast corner of Ellsworth and Riggs roads.
But Cott said Queen Creek also is mindful of attracting smaller business in order to achieve a balance between the big box retailers and small business.
“I think there's a place for both,” Cott said. “We're growing, there are a lot of great commercial corners on commercial corridors that make sense for that bigger box retail. And then we have a very specific plan and zoning for our downtown core where we don't want to see big box. We want to see those smaller, independently owned restaurants and businesses for Queen Creek. I feel there's definitely a place for both. It's finding that good balance.
“You want to have some of those big-boxes. They drive traffic to your community and that only helps some of the other businesses in the area. For us, we'd like to see both. We want to have a really walkable pedestrian friendly, unique downtown core.”
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley @AzNewsmedia
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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