A familiar name in warehouse shopping is set to bring a new store concept — and more than 150 jobs — to a much-maligned location in Denver.

Costco Business Center is in “pre-development discussions” with the city to take over the former Lowe’s Home Improvement Center location in the Alameda Square Shopping Center, on West Alameda Avenue near South Federal Boulevard. The store is scheduled to open in late fall.

The project was announced Tuesday at a meeting of the Denver City Council’s business development committee.

Jeff Romine of the city’s Office of Economic Development said the store, one of 11 nationwide, would serve all of Colorado.

“In some sense, unless we have a staggering wave of growth, this may be the only Costco Business Center within the Front Range,” Romine said. “We have talked with (Costco) about bringing more Costcos to the Denver area, and this is the first step, we hope, in a longer relationship with them.”

Initially, the store would generate at least 150 jobs paying $15 to $25 per hour, Romine said. That number eventually could climb to more than 250 jobs, he said.

Costco Business Center is an extension of Costco’s wholesale model with a major change: The merchandise is geared toward businesses — specifically offices, convenience stores and food-service providers.

This means aisles of office products and a different selection of foods with much larger portions.

“Instead of (a butcher or restaurant) buying a package of eight steaks, you’d buy half a cow,” said Mike Dobrota, of real estate firm Northwest Atlantic, who is representing Costco.

The store would be open to all Costco members but would offer delivery to business clients. That makes the Alameda Square location ideal, with its proximity to major thoroughfares such as Santa Fe Avenue and Interstate 25.

Costco Business has 10 U.S. locations that average about 17,000 orders each week, about 30 percent of which are delivered within a 30- to 50-mile radius, Romine said.

The economic impact for Denver would be difficult to measure because the city that receives the delivery, not the one where the delivery originated, collects the sales tax, Romine said.

Even so, Romine estimated the tax benefit to the city and county of Denver could range from $1.5 million to $2 million. The city also might offer incentives of up to $2 million to finalize the deal, Romine said.

The announcement is a boon to the Alameda Square Shopping Center, which was declared blighted in 1991. Various efforts to revive it were met with resistance, including neighborhood pushback against a proposed Walmart.

Efforts to revitalize the area began to pay off in 2010, when Boise, Idaho-based Brighton Development Corp. spent $28.6 million on the redevelopment. Lowe’s was the anchor tenant. A year and a half later, the store closed for underperformance, and the location has been vacant ever since.

Brighton is still receiving payments as part of a $7.3 million incentive package from sales and property taxes generated at Alameda Square, which was backed by the Denver Urban Renewal Authority.

Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney