Ammon, Idaho Falls Battle Over Possible Costco

After years of rumors, Wednesday brought some new information about the possibility of another Costco coming to the area.

Idaho Falls and Ammon city leaders are in the middle of a friendly competition, each enticing the wholesale retailer to build in their city. However, even with the interest from both sides, it’s far from a done deal.

“It’s competitive. And that competition is good. That’s healthy,” Ammon mayor Steve Fuhriman said. “We’d love to have them here. It’d be a boom to our tax base and economy.”

Questions from Costco have been answered with enticing proposals from both cities.

On Wednesday, we obtained a Feb. 27 letter from Idaho Falls mayor Jared Fuhriman to real estate developer Ball Ventures, which owns Snake River Landing and co-owns the Pocatello shopping center anchored by a Costco store.

In the appeal, Fuhriman outlined more than $500,000 in waived fees for the retailer.

“We’re in a different situation than Idaho Falls as far as the amount of money charged for fees and so forth,” Steve Fuhriman said. “We would waive our normal fees that would be charged to businesses.”

He said Costco has given no indication whether a deal may come in six months or six years. So in the ping pong of negotiations, Steve Fuhriman said the ball is in their court.

He said if a Costco were to build in either city, it would no doubt bring even more businesses and boost the regional economy as a whole.