By KATHY DAY
Herald Writer
TULALIP – Construction will start within 30 days on Wal-Mart’s 148,000-square-foot store at the Tulalip Quilceda Business Park and Home Depot could also break ground within a month, a tribal official said Tuesday.
John McCoy, Tulalip governmental affairs executive director, could not provide a specific date but said the event will mark the culmination of more than three years of negotiations to make sure "Wal-Mart was the right fit for our community."
The tribe recently signed a 50-year lease with the Arkansas-based retail chain.
The contractor’s name will be announced in about a week, but McCoy said part of the agreement with Wal-Mart is that "if we have people with the skills they need, they will be working on the project."
The store, set to open in March 2001, will be situated on 19.2 acres at the intersection of Interstate 5 and Quilceda Way. McCoy said plans for the 130,000-square-foot Home Depot store on 11 acres just north of Wal-Mart are proceeding.
Contract talks with Home Depot are in the final stages, but "other entities … are too far out to be talked about," he said.
The center will also include a small village for businesses operated by tribal members and a tribal government and services center. Plans call for an entertainment center, with a hotel and enlarged casino. In all, the center will cover about 2,000 acres, with Wal-Mart alone expected to employ about 250 people.
"Our whole regional economy wins with these retailers coming to Tulalip," McCoy said in a press release. "Now with our anchor tenants in place, the future of Quilceda Business Park couldn’t be brighter.
You can call Herald Writer Kathy Day at 425-339-3453 or send e-mail to kday@heraldnet.com
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