BURBANK MIGHT DANGLE $250,000 TO WOO STORE.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

BURBANK - The city will consider paying Sears, Roebuck and Co. a $250,000 incentive to convince the retail giant to open one of its The Great Indoors home improvement stores in Burbank.

The city's redevelopment agency will consider the funding package when it meets Tuesday in the hope of improving its chance at being picked as a site for one of the first stores in California.

``Being as there is nothing like this in the area, it's a good thing that we're not only going to be able to offer this usage for our residents, but capture tax dollars from the region,'' said City Councilman David Laurell. ``Because it's upscale, it's probably going to pull from a pretty dramatic part of the region. It makes sense that the assistance would be more than offset by the economic benefit.''

The 141,000-square-foot store would be located on a 12-acre site in the Burbank Empire Center, a big box retail and business center to be built next year.

City officials describe the store as appealing to upper-income homeowners, offering built-in refrigerators and home entertainment systems and providing such amenities as an in-store bakery and a Starbucks.

``Local competition to site a high-quality regional store such as The Great Indoors is fierce,'' community development director Robert Tague said in his report to the redevelopment agency board. ``Sears is evaluating other sites outside of Burbank for their new store.

``In order to improve Burbank's chances of being the ultimate site chosen for The Great Indoors, a $250,000 incentive based on sales tax performance goals is proposed.''

According to the report, the store must achieve a gross sales goal of $30 million each year to get the full $50,000 annual funding over five years. If sales are less, the city's payment would be incrementally less, and no money would be paid if sales are less than $25 million.

City officials said the investment would yield approximately $600,000 in the first year, $635,000 in the second and $670,000 in the third year.

When it was trying to lure an auto dealership to the site, the council had agreed to provide a much larger sum for the promise of a smaller payout.

A Chrysler dealer was to get $9 million over 10 years, and the estimated sales tax revenue was estimated to be about $425,000 in the first year, $475,000 in the second and $590,000 in the third.

The city's assistance package would come from $3 million the city set aside in an effort to lure Galpin Ford to the area, the report states.

City officials said the Empire project developer is expected to be issued grading permits as early as next week. Confirmed tenants include Best Buy, Michaels, Lowe's Home Improvement, Linens 'N' Things, Target and Staples. Restaurants will include Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, TGI Friday's, Hometown Buffet, Roadhouse Grill and Starbucks.