Company spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said she was unable to comment on the scope of the proposed project. She did say the standard Lowe’s store costs about $18.5 million, creates up to 175 jobs, and occupies about 117,000‑square feet of retail space that includes a garden center.

Asked about building a home improvement center less than a mile from a Home Depot, another big box home improvement store, Smith said, “it’s not uncommon for Lowe’s to go head‑to‑head with our largest competitor.

”The Home Depot is located along Carefree Highway in Phoenix, less than one mile west of where Lowe’s wants to build their store.

The company is working with Carefree on a site plan application to build the store, the first official step in the town’s approval process.

Smith said it typically takes about nine months to construct a new Lowe’s store. She said the company will open about 155 stores this year.

Lowe’s already operates 1,275 stores in 49 states and has 12 in the Valley.

Morgan told The Desert Advocate that Lowe’s will provide valuable tax revenue for the town as Carefree moves closer to build out and construction fees decline.

“Even without Lowe’s, we’d be fine,” Morgan said, adding that the remaining large parcels in Carefree would be developed in five to10 years.

After that, he added, development in the town “would be down to a lot here and a lot there.”

Reach the reporter at barry@thedesertadvocate.com.