Falls at Crackernack Creek update

[trailerkid]

Similar to Eastland, the project is going to require some massive terraforming that will obviously take quite some time.

Nice location choice...

[KC_JAYHAWK]

You know I've lived in KC for 8 years now and I have no idea where U.S. 40 and Missouri 291 are. From downtown, how would I even get to that location when it is built?

[trailerkid]

The freeway...it is right off of I-70.

[scooterj]

Similar to Eastland, the project is going to require some massive terraforming that will obviously take quite some time.

Nice location choice...

It's the tradeoff for having interesting topography instead of the dull flat open farmlands that make Joco such an easy, cheap area to develop until it filled up.

[dangerboy]

Similar to Eastland, the project is going to require some massive terraforming that will obviously take quite some time.

Nice location choice...

It's the tradeoff for having interesting topography instead of the dull flat open farmlands that make Joco such an easy, cheap area to develop until it filled up.

I agree, but the problem is that instead of building into the topography, they shave off the hills to create flat, open pad sites.

[trailerkid]

Bass Pro project finances get approval in Independence

City Council approves financing deal

By BRIAN BURNES The Kansas City Star

Construction on the Bass Pro Shops store in Independence could begin as soon as July 1.

That's when the pad site on which the store is to be constructed is scheduled to be finished for Bass Pro. The date is part of the tax-increment-financing redevelopment agreement approved Monday night by the Independence City Council.

Without comment, council members passed several ordinances spelling out details of the development, to be built southwest of the intersection of Interstates 70 and 470.

The ordinances update the deal agreed to earlier this year between Bass Pro Shops, the city and the development group Crackerneck Creek LLC. The initial finish date for the pad site had been March 1. But the time required to receive approval from state and federal regulatory agencies made that date unrealistic. The agreement also spells out that the first 100,000 square feet of additional retail pace must by leased by July 1.

The deal includes $73 million in tax-increment financing. That includes $2.9 million to allow the developer to build two bridges near the western section of an access road to be shifted south. Residents of the nearby Whispering Meadows subdivision, who had worried about the road's proximity to some homes, had asked for the shift.

Any unused portion of that $2.9 million is to be spent on site improvements, such as landscaping that would further benefit subdivision residents. Also, the developer will be responsible for installing the necessary conduits and vaults to allow placement of electrical utility lines underground.

The entire project is a 450,000-square-foot of commercial and retail development on about 150 acres.

To reach Brian Burnes,

Independence reporter,

call (816) 234-7804 or send e-mail to bburnes@kcstar.com.

[chrizow]

i drove by the site the other day. that is going to be a complete traffic mindf*ck. i didn't realize how close it is to 470. they are going to have to somehow widen 40hwy underneath the 470 overpass. it is pretty congested right there as it is. after Bass Pro opens i expect pandemonium as the pickup truck-with-gun-rack crowd rubs shoulders with the minivan and low rider crowd.

[Thrillcekr]

It would seem to me that it would be more logical to put Bass Pro near the largest lake in the area which is Smithville.

[Gorlock]

Smithville is just too far north for the majority of people in the metro for an attraction like that. I believe they chose Independence because it it more centrally located than Smithville.

In fact, I believe the Bass Pro in Springfield is not near a lake.

[dangerboy]

Smithville is just too far north for the majority of people in the metro for an attraction like that. I believe they chose Independence because it it more centrally located than Smithville.

In fact, I believe the Bass Pro in Springfield is not near a lake.

Smithville Lake is surrounded by park property. There isn't any place near the lake to put a huge retail project like this. It couldn't be on the actual shoreline. Plus, the lake itself is 4-5 miles from US 169, even further from I-435. Thousands of shoppers would be driving through subdivisions and rural roads.

[Thrillcekr]

It's not that far north. You can drive from metro north mall to smithville in 10 minutes. Smithville area is also loaded with traffic from sportsmen who buy those kind of items. It is far from some areas but a lot closer to others. I don't think the east side of Independence is exactly what I would call a central location. It would take me 45 minutes to get there if traffic was sparse. I'll never go there for sure. If I need some fishing gear I guess I'll just go to Rogers in Liberty.

[GRID]

Nah, they got it right.

I-470 & I-70 is already one of the top retail areas in the metro (it’s already a “destinationâ€

[Thrillcekr]

I don't think all of those lakes combined are as large as Smithville. That's probably why Smithville is the only lake in the area that has professional boat racing and large scale circuit bass tournaments. South Mo already has a Bass Pro if I'm not mistaken. Plus I'd say that the largest majority of traffic that goes into Cabelas doesn't even come from that direction judging by the plates you see in the parking lot. 'Scenery wise Smithville has that place beat big time. I'm sure it will make money and all but it won't live up to its full potential.

People going to Smithville are going there specifically because they are sport fisherman which makes a big difference. If they go in there, chances are they are gonna be coming out with stuff instead of just dropping by to look around. There are just as many people close to that area as there are to Independence and, unlike Indepence, it is the fastest growing area of the city. Everybody wears clothes, buys electronics, and eats so Independence Center may be hopping but it isn't designed to sell to one specific group of people like Bass Pro.

[dangerboy]

Thrill, I understand your argument that Smithville Lake is a good fit for Bass Pro, but I still don't think it's a good location.

Bass Pro isn't the kind of place you dash into to pick up some bait on your way to the fishing hole. It's a retail destination/theme park. It needs to be right on the highway, not 5 miles away like Smithville Lake. Population-wise, it will be at the geographic center of a county with 650,000. Smithville Lake is at the northern fringe of the Northland's 300,000 people.

Look at other Bass Pro locations. They are generally in suburban retail districts with good highway access, not in rural lake areas.[/i]

[dangerboy]

Bass Pro is now considering putting the hotel on top of the retail store.

http://examiner.net/stories/033005/new_033005004.shtml

[Gladstoner]

Bass Pro is now considering putting the hotel on top of the retail store.

http://examiner.net/stories/033005/new_033005004.shtml

They could've just used the Westin Crown Center. It already has the 60-foot waterfall and diorama sets, as well as the square footage and hotel. I don't think Hallmark would approve of the artificial lake, however.

[ShowME]

What kind of incentives are being used for the Independence site?  It just blows me away that voters would approve a tax to lure $5.35/hr. jobs. 


http://springfield.news-leader.com/busi ... uildL.html

Tax to help build Louisiana Bass Pro


By The Associated Press
Denham Springs, La. — Voters in Livingston Parish and in the city of Gonzales overwhelmingly approved a pair of tax propositions to allow public financing of major retail sporting goods companies.
More than 80 percent of those who voted in Livingston Parish approved plan for a Bass Pro Shops store in Denham Springs.

In Gonzales, 78 percent approved aid for construction of a Cabela's store.

Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said after polls closed Saturday night that he thinks customers will be visiting a Bass Pro store in Denham Springs by May 2006.

The matter still faces further challenges before construction can begin.

Ponder Jones, who opposes public financing for the project, said he intends to continue fighting in court.

Seven taxes had to pass, and all passed by more than 80 percent. The strongest support came in Denham Springs, where 88 percent of those voting favored rededicating two sales taxes so that they can be used to help finance the Bass Pro project.

The Bass Pro Shops project would be built on an unoccupied 75.6-acre site along Interstate 12.

A Web site sponsored by the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce says the work would create 545 construction jobs, and the other businesses locating in the development would create 800 additional construction jobs.

The businesses subsequently would create several hundred permanent jobs, according to the Web site.

Smaller, local hunting and fishing stores said that a Cabela's store in Gonzales and a Bass Pro in Denham Springs would wipe them out.

[GRID]

Not sure, but it's a lot.

BTW, they put up a massive sign along I-70 that says BP is coming and are scraping land like crazy.

This brings up another point.  With that massive hospital going in, the whole BP development and other developments I have seen that have not gone public yet which are east of Little Blue Parkway, that area has lost and will loose the rest of the big cliffs and rocky terrain that used to define it.  Remember what it used to look like?  Amazing.

[dangerboy]

TIF for sure on the sales and property taxes.  Possibly also a sales tax for road improvements.

The livestone cliffs were a very distinctive part of the area.  I amazed they shaved off so much to make a completly flat Eastland Center.  There was a lo to potential for some interesting integration with the origional topography.  I remember junior high science trips to some of the cliffs for fossil gathering.

[trailerkid]

The area around Independence Center, Bass Pro, and the new hospital will be an interesting and disturbing area to watch in the next decade as it transitions from regional retail area to mega-development, super-regional retail and economic powerhouse. With a little more retail and restaurant build-out, this site would be more appropriate for IKEA or something similar than any location in the Northland or Jo Co. It will become almost textbook for an IKEA or super-retailer destination location.