Harlingen officials approve proposed lease agreement with Bass Pro Shops

HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Economic Development Corp.’s Board of Directors approved a proposed lease agreement between the development corporation and Bass Pro Shops, moving the city one step closer to a deal that would reel in the retail giant.

In its Tuesday night meeting, the board unanimously approved the lease, the details of which the agency would not disclose. The board also voted to inject language into the lease that would spell out prospective job figures for the development and immigration status requirements for would-be employees and would remove a previous Oct. 31 development deadline.

“This is a critical next step for us,” Bill Martin, CEO of the development corporation, said Tuesday. “We’re stuck on this lease — we need to move on and we have to get over this hurdle.”

Still, there are many details the agency needs to work through before Bass Pro signs a final contract with the city, Martin said. The development corporation will now ask if Bass Pro agrees, in principle, to the terms of the lease, Martin said, in order to start negotiating with developers at the Cameron Crossing Shopping Center — the proposed site where Bass Pro would be the anchor retailer.

“The goal is to get clearance from Bass Pro to go and work out some of those agreements with the developer,” Martin said.

The final lease, along with proposed changes, will now have to go back to the development corporation’s board for a final vote before going to the Harlingen City Commission for approval, Martin said. If the city approves the final lease, the development corporation will then have to negotiate with developers at the proposed 89-acre, 850,000-square-foot development, he said.

Martin did not say when he expected Bass Pro to sign any lease agreement with the city.

The development corporation will still need to seek approval for three separate Chapter 380 agreements, which let cities make loans of public money or grants to businesses and developers, who in turn build projects within the city, Martin said.

According to the agency’s initial estimates when the project was announced, the development corporation will have to issue roughly $28 million in sales tax revenue bonds to pay for the project’s development.

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Michael Barajas is a reporter for the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.