Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Officials: No word on Shoppes at Capps Farm

The Shoppes at Capps Farm seems to have come to an abrupt halt, according to city officials.

December 11, 2007

The Shoppes at Capps Farm seems to have come to an abrupt halt, according to city officials.

The 62-acre project encompassing retail, restaurants, a movie theatre, playground and open-air amphitheater was to be built along the southeast corner of Exit 58 off Interstate 85 in Opelika.

Property transactions should have been finalized in October with site work beginning shortly thereafter. But City Attorney Guy Gunter said he hasn’t seen any clouds of construction dust kicked up on the property. He said, as far as project paperwork goes, he hasn’t seen a shred since August when the council approved a cooperative district for the project developed by DeBartolo Development LLC.

“The city has done what they said they would do,“ Gunter said. “The ball has been in their court. DeBartolo had entered into a partnership with the Capps family to buy land. No one ever told me if they ever exercised the option to buy the land or not. Bonds for financing were due in October. I have not received any type of notification they have issued the bond. The bond money would have been set aside for grading the land and putting up infrastructure. The pad is supposed to be complete in March 2008, but I haven’t seen any work going on out there.“

The city had agreed to revenue sharing once the project got off the ground. Because nothing has happened, so far the city has not lost any dollars, Gunter said.

Following a positive recommendation from the Opelika Planning Commission in April, the Shoppes at Capps Farm proposal went before the Opelika City Council in May where a public hearing was held on the open-air retail shopping center. Then in June, Capps Farm developer DeBartolo Development LLC announced it had secured a heavyweight to anchor its lifestyle and retail shopping center - Kohl’s department store. DeBartolo and city officials had said the 68,000-square-foot Kohl’s department store was slated to open its doors in Opelika in October 2008.

In a Kohl’s statement released Monday, public relations officials said, “At this time, we’ve not announced any plans to open a new store in the Opelika, Ala., community. Kohl’s has an ongoing real estate assessment process. At any given time, Kohl’s is reviewing sites in communities nationwide. We do not comment on real estate speculation.“

In a “Memorandum of Understanding” between the city and DeBartolo, other draws included: PetSmart, Circuit City, Staples, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Hastings, Barnes & Noble or Borders Books, LifeWay Christian Books, Michael’s, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Cheddar’s. The council approved the memorandum during its June council meeting.

As stated in the memorandum, once Phase I and II of the project was complete, the center would stretch approximately 821,971-square-feet with a capital investment of approximately $125 million. Tax revenue off the project was expected to generate $7.4 million for the city. A portion of the memorandum stated that the city agreed to form a cooperative improvement development district where it would share sales tax revenues with DeBartolo.

“I am not sure of the status of the project now,“ Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said. “I haven’t heard anything.“

During a two-day International Council of Shopping Centers Southern Convention in Atlanta on Oct. 22 and 23, Economic Development Director Al Cook met briefly with representatives of DeBartolo and asked about the Shoppes at Capps Farm project.

“They said they were working on it, but it was slow going,“ Cook said. “That’s the last I’ve heard from them.“

DeBartolo officials could not be reached for comment Monday.