Just north of Costco in Ridgeland, construction is under way on a building that will house the metro area’s second location of an ALDI grocery store.
ALDI, which is being constructed off Highland Colony Parkway behind Walk On’s Sports Bistreau, is expected to open around July 1, said Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee. The metro area’s first location of ALDI opened in Flowood in June 2023.
La-Z-Boy, PetSmart, Old Navy and T.J. Maxx were also announced last May as part of Renaissance Phase 3B, and those are projected to open around Nov. 1, he said.
“Retail is the life blood of our city, so adding these great retailers will help us to keep up a high quality of life by providing the best services possible for our citizens as well as the guests of Ridgeland,” he said.
Construction does not appear to have started on the buildings that will house La-Z-Boy, PetSmart, Old Navy and T.J. Maxx.
Based in Batavia, Illinois, ALDI is said-to-be one of the fastest-growing grocers in the U.S. It has 2,400 stores across 38 states with more than 45,000 employees. Last March, ALDI announced plans to add 800 stores nationwide by the end of 2028 through a combination of new openings and store conversions that are a result of its August 2023 acquisition of Southeastern Grocers and its Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets.
For the uninitiated, ALDI offers a no-frills environment and is usually sized more like a market than a Kroger grocery store. Customers must bag their own groceries and are encouraged to bring their own. It costs a quarter to use a grocery cart, but the quarter is returned when the cart is returned to the stall.
During the same meeting in May 2024, when the site plans were approved for ALDI and the other retailers, Ridgeland officials also passed a resolution authorizing the issuance of up to $2.5 million in tax increment limited obligation bonds for Renaissance III and IV.
The bonds are “to raise money for the purpose of providing funds for defraying the costs of various infrastructure improvements, funding a debt service reserve fund if any, and paying the costs of insurance for the bonds; and for related purpose.”
Tax increment bonds are incentives for a developer to carry through with a project. The bonds are secured by a pledge of the increased ad valorem taxes from real and personal property generated by a project.
The original assessed value of the Renaissance Phase III TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District property as of Jan. 1, 2016 was $369,234 and resulted in city taxes of $7,396, according to Norman A. Cannady Jr., tax assessor for Madison County, who provided the information about the assessed value of the property.
The current assessed value of the Renaissance Phase III TIF District property as of Jan. 1, 2023, is $5,941,422, according to the most recently determined valuation, consisting of $3,317,982 in real property and improvements and $2,623,440 in personal property.
The captured assessed value of Renaissance Phase III TIF District property, as of Jan. 1, 2023, is $5,572,188, according to the most recently determined valuation, consisting of $2,948,748 in real property and $2,623,440 in personal property.
The incremental increase in ad valorem taxes for the 2023 tax year resulting from ad valorem taxation by the city when applied to the captured assessed value for the Renaissance Phase III TIF District property is $111,611.
