Littleton council to consider 30-year sales-tax agreement for Scheels

Littleton City Council is scheduled to consider three proposed sales-tax incentive resolutions for the Mineral Place development, including a 30-year agreement for a planned Scheels sporting-goods store. The Sept. 15 meeting packet lists the measures for council consideration.

Proposed Scheels agreement

Resolution 63-2026 would create an agreement among Littleton, RIG Mineral LLC and Scheels for a roughly 300,000-square-foot store on 14.36 acres at 700 West Mineral Avenue. The proposed agreement would begin when Scheels receives a certificate of occupancy and last 30 years unless ended earlier.

Littleton would rebate 54.67% of the store’s collected city sales tax to Scheels and 5.33% to RIG, retaining 40% while RIG’s reimbursement remains available and 45.33% after RIG reaches its cap. The city would retain all of the sales tax after the 30-year term. The arrangement would apply to taxes actually collected, not a guaranteed payment, and would exclude voter-approved new or increased sales taxes.

RIG’s share would be capped at $25 million. Staff said the amount would help offset RIG’s costs for land and site improvements, including parking, landscaping, sidewalks and utilities; the packet estimates those costs at nearly $25 million. RIG and Scheels would have four years after signing to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop the store, complete their purchase-and-sale agreements and support issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

Projected benefits

The city’s fiscal analysis and staff presentation project that the store could employ more than 550 people, including more than 200 full-time workers. Scheels has projected about $135 million in annual sales in its first full year and construction costs approaching $200 million.

The analysis estimates about $1.8 million in first-full-year city sales tax after the incentive, along with $106,250 in first-year property tax, $3.94 million in one-time use tax and $2.75 million in development fees. For the broader Mineral Place project, the city projects net new sales-tax gains of about $4.3 million in 2029 and $10.8 million in 2039. These are projections, not guaranteed results.

Changes to RIG incentives

Resolution 62-2026 would extend RIG’s deadline for obtaining a certificate of occupancy for a Costco project from Oct. 1, 2026, to Oct. 1, 2027. The proposed first amendment would otherwise leave the incentive structure unchanged: a maximum $29.5 million share-back, described as 50% of collected city sales tax, for up to 10 years or until the cap is reached.