By Traci Chapman/Staff Writer
published Dec. 29, 2007

A Mustang Lowes Home Improvement store is officially under construction, as the last of the administrative hurdles needed to begin construction were cleared last week.

Mustang City Council approved both the preliminary and final plats and a performance bond for the Lowes lots, located at Sara Road and state Highway 152. City Planner Melissa Helsel said with the approval of the plats and bond, construction can finally begin. “The final plat enables them to get a building permit right away,” she said. “The 105 percent bond allows immediate construction.”
City Manager David Cockrell said the project will have a tremendous impact on the city.

“There are some projects that make a substantial difference in the way we will grow, and this is one of them,” he said.

Last week, contractors obtained the necessary building permits from the city to begin construction, Helsel said.

Lowes public relations officer Maureen Rich said the company anticipates the over 170,000-square-foot store — which includes over 139,000 square feet of retail space and a 32,000-square-foot garden center — will be opened sometime in the “late second quarter” of Lowes next fiscal year — that quarter ends the end of July — “as long as the weather cooperates.”

As bulldozers and other heavy equipment work the site night and day, Rich said once a project is official, the company tries to get the store “up and running as soon as possible for its customers.”

The store will also employ about 170 people, Rich said, of which about 125 will be full-time employees.

An unnamed source connected to the project said the Mustang store “is similar in elevation” — layout — to the Lowes location in Moore. Vannoy Construction is the contractor on both projects.

The City Council passed a resolution in September approving the city’s participation in the signal project with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. ODOT approved the project in November.

Community Development Director Richard Rolison and his staff recommended the project after Jemsite Development, Lowes developer, did a traffic engineering and impact study on the intersection. During Tuesday’s meeting, Rolison said the signalization alone would greatly benefit the city.

“The whole purpose was to enhance that intersection from failing, as it currently is, to a non-failing traffic flow,” he said.
Cockrell said the sales tax generated by Lowes and other retailers and businesses officials hope will locate in the adjoining complex will be a “substantial benefit” to the city.

“This is a win-win situation for everyone,” he said. “This comes after a lot of work and negotiation, but it’s all worth it.”