Aldi Inc., a discount grocer, confirmed plans to open what some say will be Denton’s largest distribution center within the next few years.

The news follows the recent purchase of a 185-acre tract near the Denton Municipal Airport at Westcourt and Springside roads, where the estimated $40 million, 500,000-square-foot center will be built to support 25 stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including two in Denton.

“That particular location provides us some key advantages, the first of which is the proximity to Interstate 35 North and Inter­state 35 East-West with easy access to Dallas, Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. It is also conveniently located near where the stores are going to be,” said Mar­tha Swaney, spokeswoman for Aldi. 

The building will be only slightly smaller than the former Texas Instruments building, which covers 553,000 square feet, according to Linda Ratliff, economic development director for the city of Denton, and will house about 100 employees.

Ratliff cited other companies of comparable size, including Anderson Merchandisers, which expanded to 400,000 square feet, and United Copper, now just above the 500,000-square-foot mark.

“It’s a big footprint,” Ratliff said in an earlier interview.

“It’s a huge opportunity for Denton,” said Jerry Mohelnitzky, local businessman and chairman of the Denton Economic Devel­opment Partnership board, on Monday. “They employ a lot of management-type people, and they are recruiting out of the University of North Texas as well as SMU [Southern Methodist University] and TCU [Texas Christian University].”

City officials have said the company was attracted by the labor pool offered in Denton with its major universities as well as the city’s location at the apex of I-35E and I-35W.

“It’s going to give an opportunity for people to remain in Denton,” Mohelnitzky said, add­ing that the company also will bring in additional revenues to the city’s utility department with its likelihood of having a large refrigerated area as part of the warehouse.

Talks of Aldi’s plans first surfaced last summer when the Denton City Council voted to offer more than $1.67 million in tax breaks to the company to attract what could be the city’s largest distribution center.

The company will pay the city about $25,000 in property taxes on the land for the first five years and an estimated $360,000 in the sixth year and beyond, based on 2007 taxes.

Aldi would receive full tax abatement for five years on the distribution center building, equip­ment and inventory.

In return for the $1,675,940 in economic incentives, the company agreed to improve Westcourt Road from FM1515, also known as Airport Road, to Springside Road.

Denton County commissioners recently approved a tax abatement of 35 percent on the as­sessed value of improvements over the value of the real property as of Jan. 1, 2008. The abatement is expected to begin on Jan. 1, 2010.

Aldi, which is owned and operated independently with its U.S. headquarters near Chicago, is opening in two markets this year — Rhode Island and Florida.

The company plans to open a similar-sized warehouse in Haines City, Fla., which is expected to open in the fall and also employ about 100 people. The $40 million, 500,000-square-foot center will serve 25 stores in the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando area.

The company is known for its private-label brands and offering discounted prices by having shoppers bring or buy recyclable bags and use a deposit system for shopping carts.

Customers deposit a quarter to use the cart and get it back when they return it. 

Aldi has more than 900 stores in 28 states across the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast.

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail address is dcobb@dentonrc.com .