Costco has submitted plans for a warehouse store in Clermont County, Union Township officials say, positioning the retail giant to open its fourth Greater Cincinnati location behind Dick’s Sporting Goods and Best Buy in the Eastgate commercial area. The proposed store would measure just over 160,000 square feet and include 30 gas pumps, with township trustees still needing to hold two rounds of votes before the project is approved.
According to FOX19, Union Township Trustee Joe Dills said Costco plans to create between 250 and 300 jobs at the site and, per the Cincinnati Enquirer, invest $30 million in the project. Dills said his confidence in the deal comes after two years of conversations with Costco. “We’re rounding third and heading toward home,” he told the station, adding that he highly doubts the plans would be voted down.
A final approval vote is scheduled for October 13, according to the station’s report. If approved, the warehouse would join Costco’s existing Greater Cincinnati locations in Deerfield Township, Liberty Township, and Florence. The application anticipates demolition of existing site improvements and infrastructure in 2027, with construction of the warehouse and fuel facility following in 2028, per the same account.
A Crowded Corner of Eastgate
The proposed Costco site would sit close to an existing Sam’s Club wholesale store within the same Eastgate commercial corridor, a pairing that would put two major bulk retailers within the same shopping node. Sam’s Club has long served as the primary wholesale warehouse option for shoppers in eastern Hamilton and Clermont counties, according to WLWT.
Costco’s arrival also comes as the neighboring Eastgate Mall faces its own turmoil. In May, property owner RCC Eastgate Mall LLC filed a lawsuit in Clermont County Common Pleas Court alleging that primary mall owner Hull Property Group let the mall fall into disrepair ahead of a planned demolition, according to Local 12. The mall opened in 1980 with nearly 100 stores but had fewer than 35 active tenants remaining by 2026, the station reported.
Legal fights have shaped the Eastgate corridor before. Hull Property Group previously used cross-easement rights to sue and block Kroger from building a 124,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace on the site of a former Sears store that Kroger had bought for $5.5 million at Eastgate Mall in 2021, according to industry trade group ICSC. Five main property owners at the mall site retain mutual veto authority over structural changes until 2030, per ICSC’s report.
Why Retailers See Opportunity in Union Township
Union Township’s population reached an estimated 52,349 residents in 2026, up 5.38% from the 49,678 counted in the 2020 census, according to World Population Review. The township has grown at an annual rate of roughly 1.23%, and the OKI Regional Council of Governments projects its population will reach 55,535 by 2030, a figure guiding the township’s Horizon 2030 Land Use Plan for major retail corridors.
Demographic estimates for 2026 put Union Township’s median household income at $80,112, with a poverty rate of 8.98%, per the population review data. Commercial proposals of this scale are evaluated under Section 519 of the Ohio Revised Code through Focus Area Overlay Districts, the process Union Township uses to weigh major retail developments.
The Eastgate area’s status as a regional shopping destination dates back to 1984, when French hypermarket chain Bigg’s opened its first U.S. store next to Eastgate Mall, according to township history. Hull Property Group, based in Georgia, acquired the main mall site in September 2023 and has since partnered with township leadership on an “Envision Eastgate” master plan to reimagine the 100-acre retail district, following public visioning sessions held in late 2023.
A countywide housing study released in mid-2025 found that Clermont County’s overall population has grown 18% since 2000, adding to housing and infrastructure demands across commercial hubs like Union Township, according to the county study, which also noted that nearly 19,000 local households were considered cost-burdened. Against that backdrop, Dills expressed unreserved optimism about Costco’s prospects in Eastgate. “I think it’s a home run,” he said.
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