http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090708/BUSINESS03/907080349
I wouldn't want to open up a new business in this economy. I think in a few years we will see some more developments around Bass Pro. It would be nice to see someone finish amphitheater eventually.
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I agree with you Aqua. Once the economy balances back out I think more things will go in around Bass Pro. Cabelea's is a mute point because in 2000 the economy was alot better and business weren't afraid to spend money.
posted by lfrost2125 on Jul 09, 2009 at 03:53:49 pm #
But an interesting point was made in the Blade story about comparing the Wood County Bass Pro to the Dundee Cabela's.
The situation around Bass Pro stands in contrast to the area near Dundee, Mich., which was undeveloped until Cabela's put a store there in 2000. Since then, hotels, restaurants, shops, and a water park have located around the Dundee site, off of M-50.But Patrick Burtch, Dundee village administrator, said the Cabela's and Bass Pro sites don't have much in common. Cabela's had few retailers nearby. "With Bass Pro, the big box stores, the type of retailers that we were looking to come here [to Cabela's], you've already got them there in Rossford," Mr. Burtch said.
Brian McMahon, president of Danberry National Ltd. of Perrysburg, the commercial real estate agency Bass Pro hired to help market about 200 acres surrounding its store, said there are more than 30 national retailers just a mile or so to the south along U.S. 20/23. "You have over 2.5 million [square feet] in retail space within a mile radius. It's a who's who of anybody who's already built a major retail space in the market with the exception of Menard's," Mr. McMahon said.
Mr. Bressan, of Signature Associates, said there was not a lot of interest in the land surrounding Bass Pro two years ago when the project was announced.
2009 will be the first year of the Great Commercial Loans Crash. Bookmark this. The commercial, retail sector can't just keep taking out loans to build and operate their shops when collapsed consumer credit can't support them any further.
Yes, the genius writers at the blade....what else do they expect to be popping up around bass pro when there is strip mall central on route 20? I love how when they ask the developer that didn't get contracted with the land all around them they play it off like gloom and doom...and then they ask mcmahon and he tells it like it is...
Aqua, I wanted to see the amphitheater finished, too, but have you been by there lately? The skeleton is gone, leveled to make the land more desirable for a future buyer. :(
If the developers want to get really crazy, they could build another mall adjacent to Bass Pro. This part of Rossford is still kind of sticksville, but there's definitely room for one, and it would 'fill in the gaps' with retailers that aren't already right next door.
posted by housebeats on Jul 10, 2009 at 09:36:12 am #
'twas a dumb idea and location...much like the intermodal yard being located at Airline Junction neat Scott Park. But hey, geniuses with money can do things like that. Casino anyone?
posted by justareviewer on Jul 10, 2009 at 09:43:24 am #
I thought this was one of the sites they were looking at for a casino?
Not sure if it still is or not. I know they were looking at either cross-roads or right on the outskirts of Rossford by the Miami stree exit.
posted by lfrost2125 on Jul 10, 2009 at 11:02:27 am #
Cabela's was built when this type of specialty store was still a novelty and considered a destination, not just a stop to pick up some socks and fishing gear. The lack of planning and zoning in development around Cabela's Dundee store, however, is unforgivable. The way they were talking when it was developed, I was under the impression it was to be like a giant Levis Commons, anchored by the enormous Cabela's store with parking in back. Sadly, it's just a bunch of randomly placed strip malls and confusing traffic patterns that make walking or biking around the area almost impossible.
I understand that corporations have specific criteria regarding parking lots and site orientation that have to be addressed before they will commit to a project, but I think Cabela's missed a great opportunity to set a standard of excellence there in Dundee.
If filling up the surrounding fields with a chaotic mess of strip malls, chain stores and silly theme restaurants is the extent of Bass Pro's development vision, I would rather they just let the land go to seed.I think they dismantled what was left of the amphitheater awhile back.
posted by SavageFred on Jul 10, 2009 at 11:37:50 am #
Yes, I have been out there recently and that ampitheater is not longer in existence. For a while you could see them taking it down from 75, and now it is officially gone. I agree with most though that location should have been reconsidered in the first place when you step back to consider the quantity of big box stores down the way. There was a necessity for a store of this caliber, but now, as SavageFred has stated, the store is more of a go when you need to type, and not the type you frequent as a major destination. Yes there are still of majority of out-of-towners who are wooed by the enormity of the store, and plenty of folks I know want to go there to bask in the splendor. But they need to enhance the surrounding area with some type of entertainment/intrigue to keep people planted in that area of crossroads parkway, or they will all just filter down to us20 and spend their money somewhere else.
i don't know why anyone would be surprised about this...
posted by upso on Jul 09, 2009 at 02:57:43 pm #