dallastophoenix
19 February 2004, 03:35 PM
Proposal for lakeside development unveiled
Bass Pro Shops would be anchor; complex is part of May bond vote
05:22 PM CST on Wednesday, February 18, 2004
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
The secret is out.
After months of tight-lipped negotiations, city officials and developers confirmed this week that, if voters approve a $23.7 million bond in May, Bass Pro Shops will anchor a $45 million, 28-acre retail and entertainment development between eastbound Interstate 30, Chaha Road and Lake Ray Hubbard with plans for six full-service restaurants, a boardwalk and a 200-room hotel.
Mayor Bob Day said that principals in the development – a public-private partnership to be known as Harbor Point – had finally approved a public announcement.
"It is still a work in progress," he said. "It's not a done deal yet."
He described Harbor Point as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"It's a project whose time has come," he said. "It's the gem we've been looking for so long."
City Council member Harry Hickey, whose district includes the point, said Monday that the project has been a long time coming.
Mr. Hickey described a trip to the Bass Pro Shops headquarters in Springfield, Mo., and visits by key Bass Pro Shops executives to the site. He said Garland had won out over several competitors, including Allen, Rockwall, McKinney and Mesquite.
"The people of District 3 should be proud," Mr. Hickey said at the Monday council work session.
He discussed the project further on Wednesday in terms of its impact on south Garland.
"We really need development out in that area," he said. "I hope it will revitalize interest in the area and uplift the spirits of the people."
Keeping the secret has been tough, he said, but discretion was a key to success. Residents of the area have raised pedestrian safety and other concerns, and Mr. Hickey said he hoped those could be addressed in the Harbor Point development.
Shannon Phillips, vice president of the nearby Faulkner Point Homeowners Association, said he was excited to learn of the development plans.
"I would like to express my appreciation to Councilman Hickey for his work in getting this development and addressing the safety issue," Mr. Phillips said.
Greg Sims, chamber of commerce vice president for economic development, said the history of the deal began in 1999 with a vision for a development similar to the Kemah Boardwalk near Houston.
In September 2000, a council delegation visited Kemah.
The following year, Mr. Sims said, he began a full-fledge marketing campaign.
Broker David English of Corrigan Real Estate Service and developers Harvest Partners – Eliot Barnett, Blaine Lee and Tod Ruble – came on board in 2003, according to Mr. Sims.
The proposal calls for the city to issue a $23.7 million general obligation bond and repay it with revenue from a tax increment finance zone that would stretch along both sides of I-30 from the city limits on I-30 west of Broadway Boulevard to the lake. The city would retire the bond with new sales and property tax revenue generated in that zone without raising existing tax rates, Mr. Sims said.
The council voted Tuesday to include the bond as Proposal 8 on the $223.7 million bond program that will go to voters May 15.
"The deal is not done until the voters approve the bond," Mr. Sims said Wednesday. "The Chamber of Commerce definitely wants to support passage of the entire bond package, especially the Bass Pro Shops/Harbor Point development."
Harbor Point will redefine the I-30 corridor, he said.
"When 190 [the Bush Turnpike] is extended to I-30, the linkage between the mall [Firewheel Town Center] and Harbor Point will be a key success feature for both developments," he added. "It will bookend the city."
In Rockwall, infrastructure work has started for a 6-acre waterfront development to be called the Harbor, in a partnership that would include a privately owned movie theater and hotel, at a total cost of more than $70 million.
According to the developers, the 120,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shop at Harbor Point would capitalize on the visibility and easy access of the lakeshore property, and would draw customers from throughout northeast Texas and portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Mr. Hickey said he was relieved to have the project announced.
"I can start wearing my Bass Pro Shops hat now," he said.
E-mail rabshire@dallasnews.com or call 972-272-6591, ext. 244.
Bass Pro Shops would be anchor; complex is part of May bond vote
05:22 PM CST on Wednesday, February 18, 2004
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
The secret is out.
After months of tight-lipped negotiations, city officials and developers confirmed this week that, if voters approve a $23.7 million bond in May, Bass Pro Shops will anchor a $45 million, 28-acre retail and entertainment development between eastbound Interstate 30, Chaha Road and Lake Ray Hubbard with plans for six full-service restaurants, a boardwalk and a 200-room hotel.
Mayor Bob Day said that principals in the development – a public-private partnership to be known as Harbor Point – had finally approved a public announcement.
"It is still a work in progress," he said. "It's not a done deal yet."
He described Harbor Point as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"It's a project whose time has come," he said. "It's the gem we've been looking for so long."
City Council member Harry Hickey, whose district includes the point, said Monday that the project has been a long time coming.
Mr. Hickey described a trip to the Bass Pro Shops headquarters in Springfield, Mo., and visits by key Bass Pro Shops executives to the site. He said Garland had won out over several competitors, including Allen, Rockwall, McKinney and Mesquite.
"The people of District 3 should be proud," Mr. Hickey said at the Monday council work session.
He discussed the project further on Wednesday in terms of its impact on south Garland.
"We really need development out in that area," he said. "I hope it will revitalize interest in the area and uplift the spirits of the people."
Keeping the secret has been tough, he said, but discretion was a key to success. Residents of the area have raised pedestrian safety and other concerns, and Mr. Hickey said he hoped those could be addressed in the Harbor Point development.
Shannon Phillips, vice president of the nearby Faulkner Point Homeowners Association, said he was excited to learn of the development plans.
"I would like to express my appreciation to Councilman Hickey for his work in getting this development and addressing the safety issue," Mr. Phillips said.
Greg Sims, chamber of commerce vice president for economic development, said the history of the deal began in 1999 with a vision for a development similar to the Kemah Boardwalk near Houston.
In September 2000, a council delegation visited Kemah.
The following year, Mr. Sims said, he began a full-fledge marketing campaign.
Broker David English of Corrigan Real Estate Service and developers Harvest Partners – Eliot Barnett, Blaine Lee and Tod Ruble – came on board in 2003, according to Mr. Sims.
The proposal calls for the city to issue a $23.7 million general obligation bond and repay it with revenue from a tax increment finance zone that would stretch along both sides of I-30 from the city limits on I-30 west of Broadway Boulevard to the lake. The city would retire the bond with new sales and property tax revenue generated in that zone without raising existing tax rates, Mr. Sims said.
The council voted Tuesday to include the bond as Proposal 8 on the $223.7 million bond program that will go to voters May 15.
"The deal is not done until the voters approve the bond," Mr. Sims said Wednesday. "The Chamber of Commerce definitely wants to support passage of the entire bond package, especially the Bass Pro Shops/Harbor Point development."
Harbor Point will redefine the I-30 corridor, he said.
"When 190 [the Bush Turnpike] is extended to I-30, the linkage between the mall [Firewheel Town Center] and Harbor Point will be a key success feature for both developments," he added. "It will bookend the city."
In Rockwall, infrastructure work has started for a 6-acre waterfront development to be called the Harbor, in a partnership that would include a privately owned movie theater and hotel, at a total cost of more than $70 million.
According to the developers, the 120,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shop at Harbor Point would capitalize on the visibility and easy access of the lakeshore property, and would draw customers from throughout northeast Texas and portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Mr. Hickey said he was relieved to have the project announced.
"I can start wearing my Bass Pro Shops hat now," he said.
E-mail rabshire@dallasnews.com or call 972-272-6591, ext. 244.