NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council approved Industrial Revenue Bonds for a gun range project to be built east of Walmart on 17th Avenue.
"We started meeting with the owners of GunBros and their developer a few months ago," said Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel. "GunBros located in downtown Hutch a few years ago and currently have a retail sales operation, but what they really are finding is customers that are purchasing guns and ammunition really like to try the product."
They have a large YouTube following and they'd like to bring some of those fans from across the planet to Hutchinson to buy.
"GunBros would like to have an opportunity here to grow and they really think it's going to be kind of a tourism attraction in some sorts," Teufel said. "They did some modeling about what size of facility would make sense for this market and there was a lot at 17th and Faubion and it's owned by Selwyn Investments. Selwyn is going to be the developer of their building, leasing it currently to GunBros. I think probably at some point, GunBros will purchase the building, but our role was really helping them look at what tools can help with financing that give them the best bang for their buck, so to speak."
Industrial Revenue Bonds do not obligate the issuing governing body to any sort of payment arrangement.
"The city takes title to the ground while the IRB is in place, and they still have to have their private financing," Teufel said. "The bonds then, basically, they pay the bond holder through the duration of the loan, but it does give the business some preferential tax treatment as a virtue of being funded with an industrial revenue bond. It helps with some of the sales tax on the construction materials and then ongoing, it gives them a certain percentage of property tax exemption for the life of the project."
The Industrial Revenue Bonds were in the amount of $2,935,000.
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