After months of playing the waiting game, Copperas Cove has the preliminary deed for more than 120 acres of land for future expansion.
The land gained in a swap with Fort Hood will be used for the 1.15 million-square-foot open-air shopping mall Shops at Five Hills on the east end of the city.
Copperas Cove Economic Development Corp. Marketing Director Monica Hull said the preliminary deed was received the week before last from the Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth and outlines exactly what the city and Fort Hood are getting in the swap.
The next step is for the city to look over and verify that the deed "accurately describes what the property contained within the exchange," Hull said. "(The Copperas Cove Economic Development Corp.) in cooperation with the city will make sure it's what we wanted."
After the city verifies all the information is correct, it will then be given to Joseph Calcara, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations and housing.
Hull said it should be about 45 days after the city signs it for the exchange to be complete.
"(The land) is a product the (Copperas Cove Economic Development Corp.) would have to sell to enhance and enlarge the industrial park," she said.
The large shopping center will be developed by Gary Davis, president of First Advisors Inc.
Once the land is acquired, Davis will have about 210 days to purchase about 80 acres of the land to develop as part of an option contract, Hull said.
Hull said cost of the property for Davis will either be the pro-rata share of the costs the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corp. has incurred during the swap, the purchase price of the land near Fort Hood and other associated costs, or fair market value that is estimated by an appraiser mutually agreeable by the corporation and First Advisors Inc.
Davis was not available to comment, but at Davis' last update he said the shopping center will create approximately 1,000 new jobs for the area and generate about $278 million in gross retail sales a year and $157.9 million in taxable sales a year.
He said there aren't retailers locked-in, but he is in negotiations with two of the three of the targeted anchor tenants.
The large project is set to be constructed in phases over a 5- to 10-year time frame.
A portion of the land for the reliever route is included in the deed, Hull said.