CBID approves grant to help land Urban Outfitters

Date: 02/22/2010

The Central Business Improvement District (CBID) board of directors today approved a facade improvement grant request in the amount of $500,000 in order to help bridge a financial gap necessary to land Urban Outfitters in the Arnstein Building adjacent to Market Square. 

As proposed, property owners, Arnstein Partners, LLC, will begin to make necessary building improvements immediately and turn the space over to Urban Outfitters for tenant improvements in October 2010. Urban Outfitters would be scheduled to open in March 2011. The retail company would occupy levels 1 and 2 of the building, which is approximately 11,542 square feet.

The CBID grant would be made payable in three installments. The first payment of $175,000 will be paid after two conditions are met: 1) a lease with “no outs” is signed by Urban Outfitters within 120 days of today and 2) Urban Outfitters takes possession of the space, on or around October 2010. Timing for the second payment of $175,000 will be paid subject to CBID cash flow, but only once Urban Outfitters receives the certificate of occupancy. This is estimated to occur in March 2011. CBID will make the third and final payment of $150,000 one year after the second payment - on or about March 2012. 

“A retailer like Urban Outfitters is a perfect fit in downtown Knoxville,” said Patrick Hunt, CBID Board Chair. “This is a true catalyst project for downtown and has the potential to be a real ‘tipping point’ for downtown, creating an environment for other retailers to follow.”

The board did allow for public comment from stakeholders and those in attendance. Of that public comment, all were in support of luring Urban Outfitters to downtown Knoxville, while some concern was expressed for the exact nature of the grant’s impact on the organization’s future budget.

Current activities of the CBID and Downtown Knoxville could still occur under the existing budget with little to no impact. In recent months, the CBID board has been reviewing a strategic plan for the organization’s future - one priority being “the big idea.” Implications of the grant on this strategic plan will be addressed in a future board meeting.

However, some board members feel the Urban Outfitters grant is perfectly aligned with the strategic plan. “When we first got this proposal, my initial thought was that the ‘big idea’ that we’ve been discussing in our strategic plan just fell in our laps,” said Robyn Askew, CBID board member.

Urban Outfitters, based in Philadelphia, Pa. is a lifestyle specialty retail company with more than 155 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe. The store offers men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, and home goods, targeted to the 18-30 year old age range.

back