Montgomery developer works 7-plus years to finalize Costco deal
By David Zaslawsky
MONTGOMERY – When Costco opens its doors this fall here at the EastChase Market Center, shoppers will be wowed by the carefully selected 4,000 items.
There will be the usual fanfare that accompanies the debut of a big-box retailer, including the traditional ribbon cutting and grand-opening ceremonies.
Somewhere, lost in all that hoopla and probably smiling in a corner of the warehouse discounter, will be one of the key players who brought Costco to Montgomery. Will Wilson, president of Jim Wilson & Associates, which owns EastChase Market Center, may say to himself – “if they only knew …”
Of course, the shoppers will have other things on their mind such as hunting for items and eating hot dogs, but for Wilson, the Costco opening will mark a seven-year-plus odyssey. That’s how long it took to get the deal signed, sealed and delivered.
“We really wanted Costco,” Wilson said. “We felt like it fit our neighborhood and niche. Our clientele we felt was a Costco customer.”
Will Wilson’s father, Jim Wilson Jr., the founder of Jim Wilson & Associates who died last year, first contacted Costco before the 330-acre development at EastChase was started.
Will Wilson recalled that his father brought Costco Wholesale Corp. Chairman of the Board Jeffrey H. Brotman to the site where EastChase was developed.
“There was nothing out here,” Will Wilson said. “This was when EastChase was a field. He brought the chairman of the board here and they looked at it. ‘Yes, we need to be here, but I don’t know if now is the right time,” Brotman said.
It has been a familiar refrain from Costco officials for years. That’s why Will Wilson kept pursuing Costco because the company did want to build a store at EastChase -- it was always a matter of when.
Of course, there are time limits, especially when you have highly desirable property.
“You cannot let your land sit there forever when you have a viable piece of dirt,” Wilson said. “Something was going to happen there. I’ve got to develop this. Look at EastChase – it has been a huge success.”
Wilson courted Costco for years and at one point jokingly said, “I bought my membership card a long time ago, hoping that would help me get them here.”
He said there were no incentives and just a little wining and dining. “That’s not their modus of operations,” Wilson said.
Jim Wilson & Associates did attend twice annual International Council of Shopping Centers conventions and tried to convince Costco to approve the deal and begin construction.
“We met with them two or three times a year and we would be on the phone with them at least once a month pushing the deal,” Wilson said. “The president of the company has been down here three times to look at it (the site).
“Every month, we were in front of them. We have flown out to Seattle a couple of times to meet with them not only about Montgomery, Ala., but other deals we’re doing in Tennessee and Louisiana.”
And what happened during those face-to-face meetings and phone calls? Costco officials kept ensuring Jim Wilson & Associates that they wanted to come to Montgomery. When EastChase opened in the fall of 2003, it still took Costco another four years to finalize the deal.
“We would open something and send them a (note),” Wilson said. “We just got Target. We got Kohl’s. We just got Ross. We just got Dillard’s. We just sold five outparcels. C’mon and get on the train.”
Costco was cautious about the market, according to Wilson. He said Costco had other opportunities in bigger markets. The Issaquah-Wash.-based company was concerned if Montgomery could support both a Costco and a Sam’s Club that was bringing in more $100 million-plus in annual sales, Wilson said, citing figures from the city.
“This store in Montgomery might do $50 million-$60 million out of the gate and they (Costco officials) know going to New York or Southern California the store is going to do a $100 million.”
Wilson said a deal was approved more than once, but was held up in the capital committee, which releases the funding.
He recalled the Costco deal being approved by the company’s real estate division a year ago, but the company president wanted to inspect the site one more time.
“This is a guy who runs a billion-dollar company,” Wilson said. “Well, that took several months to get done.
“They are real methodical. They don’t want to make a mistake. They watch; they look; they study every deal they do. I think that’s what makes them so successful.”
The typical Costco generates $127 million in annual sales and averages almost $800 per square foot. The Costco store at EastChase Market Center will be about 150,000 square feet.
There was also a sentimental reason for Wilson’s persistence in seeing the Costco deal finalized.
“This was one of those deals that dad just took on by himself,” Wilson said. “Getting Costco done was on the front of his list. We were not going to run away from it or throw in the towel.
“Before dad died, they had gone under contract and were doing their due diligence, but until the money is paid and until they take the site and go under construction – the deal is not done. We (his brother is Jim Wilson III, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Jim Wilson & Associates) wanted to see dad’s wish come true and we’ve done that.”
Finalizing the Costco deal has been an emotional roller coaster for Wilson. “You pour your heart and soul into these deals,” he said. “The Target deal was up and down 20 times. I don’t know how many times I went to Minneapolis to get that deal done. Kohl’s was easy – they saw it and jumped on it.”
Wilson knew that Costco’s presence was critical for the $41 million EastChase Market Center, which will be 500,000 square feet.
“Costco would help me finish out the rest of my center,” Wilson said. “That’s what they (other retailers) all have been waiting on – when is your Costco deal getting done? Once we got that done, we’ll start signing leases with the rest of the big-boxes that are coming here.”
Two of those retailers will be new to the market.
It has been a long road for Wilson.
“They (Costco officials) always said we are going to make this deal, but we are not ready to make the deal today. They treated me fair. They were always honest with us. They told us right where we were the whole time. They never, ever minced their words.”
Wilson said Costco “bought the dirt from us” and builds its own stores. He said the Hoover store was built in 120 days.
“You better hurry up and get your membership,” Wilson tells a reporter. “I can’t wait for Costco to open.”
What are a few more months after you have waited seven-plus years.
Central Alabama Business Journal
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a golf - course next thing you know they might actually want ....nice community centers, swimming pools, perhaps real police presence before the crimes are committed not after. One think about the police in any city- they know who to take care and its usally those that pay the most taxes.
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