Distributors choose Ogden / Bike company plans to open center in November

OGDEN -- A Minnesota company plans to finalize its purchase of about eight acres from the city for the construction of an 85,000 square-foot bike distribution facility.

The deal is expected to close March 11 and work on the building, located off 12th Street east of the Ogden Nature Center, is to start in April and finish in November, Kim Brown, director of distribution for Bloomington, Minn.,-based Quality Bicycle Products, said Wednesday.

"We are very excited to be a part of the Ogden community," she said.

The city plans to sell QBP about four acres it already owns and about four adjoining acres it will acquire from the Ogden School District, said Richard McConkie, the city's director of community and economic development.

The city will retain ownership of another three acres adjacent to the QBP site.

A city council report states the municipality anticipates receiving about $1.4 million from QBP for the property.

The city plans to use about $1.25 million from the sale proceeds to pay the school district for its portion of the land that will be turned over to QBP.

In addition, about $150,000 from the sale proceeds will be set aside for any remediation costs associated with possible environmental cleanup from an underground storage tank that was on the property.

In October, QBP chose Ogden for its new distribution center so it could provide ground-based shipping to most of the Western region in two days or less.

QBP, which serves more than 5,000 independent bike dealers across the U.S., has a large customer base in the Southwest and Pacific states.

While constructing the new facility, QBP will temporarily lease a building in Clearfield.

QBP plans to hire 50 workers initially and intends to double that number once the distribution center opens. The company also plans eventually to bring some of its brand headquarters to Ogden.

The state is providing to QBP a $2.1 million incentive package over 10 years to assist its relocation to Ogden. In return, according to Brown, the company has agreed to operate in Utah for at least a decade and to pay workers 125 percent of Weber County's average wage.