WESTLAKE — A new dollar store and pharmacy may be coming to Westlake.

The city and developers are negotiating details that would bring a Fred’s SuperDollar pharmacy.

Currently, talks revolve around a right-of-way to the rear of the property that needs paving, said Lonnie Smart, Westlake chief administrative officer.

The property that is being developed — on the 1000 block of Sampson Street, across from Grant Street — was previously home to a small strip mall that was recently torn down.

Smart said that city officials met with developers Monday morning and discussed a plan in which the developers would fund the road then recoup some of the money through sales tax rebates, Smart said.

“We’re discussing how can we do that,” Smart said. “That’s something we’re just not used to doing.”

Westlake recently rezoned the property from residential to commercial in the hopes of attracting business.

Smart said Fred’s is “absolutely” the type of business Westlake is hoping to attract.

“We’re trying to make it all fit,” Smart said. “We definitely want them here, they want to come, we’re trying to make it all fit for the best deal for the taxpayers. It looks real positive.”

Smart said he has been told that Fred’s would bring in about $50,000 in sales tax and 20-30 jobs. That’s in addition to about $20,000 in ad valorem taxes, he said.

“We’re still in the composite stages, nothing firm,” Smart said.

Jacob Scher, vice president of operations with First Choice Property and Developing, said that Memphis, Tenn.-based Fred’s has around 700 stores in the southeast United States.

He declined to comment on specifics because the project is in the early stages.

Fred’s has stores in Moss Bluff and Kinder.

(Johnathan Manning / American Press)