Walmart distribution center on the way in Republic

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is slated to open a distribution center in Republic.

Plans for the facility were unveiled during Republic City Council's Aug. 27 meeting, which was streamed on the city's YouTube page. The measure at hand was a developer agreement between the city and Walmart for the construction of public water main improvements at Lot 7 of the Hankins Farm Planned Development District. The land is located at the northwest corner of State Highway MM and East Sawyer Road, near Amazon's Republic fulfillment center.

Representing Walmart, Derek Lee of Lee Engineering and Associates LLC said the company purchased the property last week, with plans for a distribution center to serve its pharmaceutical division. Lee said the distribution center would “cover a significant portion of the United States,” as Walmart’s pharmaceutical division currently only has one other warehouse.

"They will be under construction this week. They picked up their grading permit yesterday," Lee told Republic council members on Tuesday. "We've had everything teed up, and we've just been waiting for the property to actually be purchased. If you go out there sometime next week, you'll likely see the entire site graded."

Republic Planning & Development Manager Karen Haynes told council members that approval of the developer agreement would authorize the city to work with the developer on roughly 1,200 liner feet of water main. The developer would reimburse the city for the cost of materials and construction, she said. A second reading of the measure is scheduled Sept. 10.

Lee said at the meeting that he worked with developer Tom Rankin, who he said held discussions with Walmart for more than a year to bring the project to fruition.

Rankin also was a central figure in the city securing the Amazon plant, according to past reporting.