A redevelopment of Hopkinsville’s first shopping mall — anchored by a new Rural King store — will move forward with a $1.5 million grant from the city of Hopkinsville.
City council members approved the incentive at their Tuesday meeting.
Rural King will purchase the mall property on Fort Campbell Boulevard from owners in Atlanta, and the city will pay the retail company $750,000 when it breaks ground on the development, Mayor Wendell Lynch said after the meeting. The second half of the incentive will be paid when Rural King opens its store.
The grant money will come from the city’s reserve funds, said Lynch.
Rural King is a privately held company based in Illinois with 128 farm and home supply stores in the United States.
The mayor said the project is well worth the large investment of public money because it ensures the old mail won’t deteriorate into an area of blight. He estimated the grant will pay for itself in 12 to 15 years through payroll tax revenue and associated economic development.
Carter Hendricks, executive director of the Southwestern Economic Development Council, led recruitment efforts. In a news release, the EDC said Rural King will invest nearly $8 million to buy and develop the property. The project will create 170 full-time jobs, including 55 associated with the Rural King store, the release states.
Rural King will occupy an anchor store and lease smaller spaces to other retailers and restaurants, officials said.
Councilman Steve Keel applauded Hendricks’ efforts to recruit Rural King, which he said started about five years ago when Hendricks was mayor.
“He’s been trying to get them here since 2017 … persistence paid off,” Keel said.
The council also approved the establishment of a retail incentive district for the Rural King project. The developer will receive a rebate on 80% of any increase in the city property tax revenue for 20 years based on the increased value resulting from improvements.
The council voted 10-0 in favor of both of the Rural King incentives. Two members — Patricia Bell and Terry Parker — were absent.
The retail property on the Boulevard launched in the early 1970s as Pennyrile Mall and was later rebranded as Bradford Square. The development represented the first major shift of the city’s retail core away from downtown.
The last of the mall’s original anchor stores, JCPenney, closed in June 2020. Currently, there are two tenants at the mall — Hibbett Sports and TTEC, a call center.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
