Council Bluffs: Designer Outlets of MidAmerica

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Destination retail center coming to Council Bluffs

A Columbus, Ohio-based developer is planning a "destination retail center" in Council Bluffs, a company executive said.

David Kass, president of Continental Real Estate Companies, said the firm plans to open a retail center on 50 acres near Interstates 80 and 29 in 2011.

Kass said it was too early to characterize the retail center as a designer outlet center, a mall or a lifestyle center because it was still in the planning stages and because the lines are blurring between such centers in today’s retail environment

"They’ve pulled together a good team of outlet industry veterans who have sterling reputations for getting projects leased and open."

Kass said construction would start in late 2009 or early 2010.

When/if completed, it will lead to the demolition of two of Council Bluff's infamous truck stops, and add an even larger draw to the MidAmerican Center's retail component.

http://www.continental-communities.com/retail/projectDetails.cfm?show=fact&pID=67

[Mastermind]

Wow, that is a huge project. Was this just announced? Good get for CB.

[Ingersoll1978]

That'll put the nail in Mall of the Bluffs coffin. That will be a huge visual improvement to the area near Horseshoe. That'll attract shoppers from all over the place.

[Ingersoll1978]

Looking at the site plan...you can make out some of the tenants:

GAP
DKNY
New Balance
Calvin Klein
Adidas
Nike
Ann Taylor Loft
Tommy Hilfiger
Ralph Lauren
Levis
Aeropostale
American Eagle
Timberland
Tommy Bahama
Nine West
Nautica
Chicos

That's what I could make out. Hopefully these are right!

[WesternIaGuy]

That'll put the nail in Mall of the Bluffs coffin.

Mall of the Bluffs killed the Omni Centre downtown i guess its only fair for the new malls to kill Mall of the Bluffs!

[Brad in Omaha]

Josh, Here is a good siteplan for making out names: (EDIT I forgot that absolutedsm resizes images so you can't really see it better)



send me an email if you want the PDFs

[BenRoethig]

That'll put the nail in Mall of the Bluffs coffin. That will be a huge visual improvement to the area near Horseshoe. That'll attract shoppers from all over the place.

I don't know about that. It is an outlet center. Williamsburg hasn't killed off coral ridge.

[Ankeny Husker Freak]

It's just amazing to see the transformation of Council Bluffs into being a major player in the Omaha metro. From the Mid American Center to Bass Pro Shops to the new shopping centers and now this. Oh did I mention Hooters as well?

[Ingersoll1978]

With JCPenney gone...and Target relocating...Mall of the Bluffs is in trouble.

The huge benefit of this new proposal is that it will attract a lot of people from the Nebraska side of the river to shop in Iowa, which means more sales tax money for the state and schools.

[erik]

The amount of large scale projects around this area is rather unreal, Council Bluffs is currently under 're'construction, and with some very nice facilities..

[WesternIaGuy]

I heard that Younkers was going to build in Council Bluffs, they used ot be in Omni Centere and never did move to Mall of the bluffs. But i heard they were going to build a stand alone store, something i dont think younkers has.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

With JCPenney gone...and Target relocating...Mall of the Bluffs is in trouble.

The developer of The Marketplace, where JC Penny went, is trying to coax Old Navy to move there as well.

[Ingersoll1978]

It's really awesome to see Council Bluffs transform. The attitude towards Council Bluffs (which is usually negative) will dramatically change.

[Ankeny Husker Freak]

With JCPenney gone...and Target relocating...Mall of the Bluffs is in trouble.

The huge benefit of this new proposal is that it will attract a lot of people from the Nebraska side of the river to shop in Iowa, which means more sales tax money for the state and schools.

Ingersoll, remember when MOTB was the place to be? Seemed like whenever I was there, I always saw people from RO.

[Ingersoll1978]

I do. You always run into people you know there. It truly was the shopping center for SW Iowa. I remember going there soon after it opened in 1986 (and being impressed by the lights of the food court). I also remember going to Midlands Mall (which I thought was a really cool mall)...before MOTB.

[WesternIaGuy]

Midlands mall was Awesome wish it had made it, but they were killed by greed, the mall was charging to park in thier garage, Ankeny husker fan are you and Ingersoll both from this part of the state?

[Ingersoll1978]

Ankeny husker fan are you and Ingersoll both from this part of the state?

I'm originally from Tabor, Iowa. I also spent several years of my youth in Treynor and Defiance (I graduated from IKM High School in Manilla).

[Ankeny Husker Freak]

Ankeny husker fan are you and Ingersoll both from this part of the state?

I'm originally from Tabor, Iowa. I also spent several years of my youth in Treynor and Defiance (I graduated from IKM High School in Manilla).

I graduated from Red Oak, still have family in both Shen and RO

[jhuston]

It's too bad all this retail development couldn't have supplemented the Mall of the Bluffs... seems like we're leaving all of these nice, newer housing developments west of the bluffs... high and dry.

It's almost as if retailers are abandoning the upscale west CB areas... for the higher population, albeit predominantly lower income demographic closer to Omaha.

[WesternIowan]

I think you mean in East CB (not west). I live east of the MOTB, only about 2-3 minutes away in a newer subdivision. This is where the highest shopping $$'s in CB would come from (these housing areas). The mall is very convenient to us. Marketplace is not convenient for us as both South Omaha Bridge Road and the South 24th street are under heavy construction and it's always backed up in those areas. Metro Crossing isn't that bad to get to.

I wish something worthwhile to me would go in at the mall, but it's dead!!! i go to target and dillard's and they won't be there much longer.

You are right, it's clear the target audience for these new developments are Omaha people, not CB.

[jhuston]

heh heh... sorry, you're right... I meant east of the bluffs... hard to turn my thinking around coming from the other side of the river.

[erik]

80 stores planned for Bluffs center


The developer of a previously announced "retail destination center" in Council Bluffs said Friday it will be an outlet center with some 80 stores.

The 450,000-square-foot development will be on 47 acres near the intersection of Interstates 80 and 29, east of Horseshoe Casino.

David Kass, president of the Columbus, Ohio-based Continental Retail Development, said the project, Designer Outlets of MidAmerica, will break ground in the fall of 2009, with completion scheduled for summer 2010.

[erik]

**I really am starting to like the Mayor of CB! With that said, DETAILS TOMORROW!!**

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10413540

Bluffs mayor to detail mall plan
BY JOHN KEENAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A letter of intent to be presented Monday to the Council Bluffs City Council gives a fuller picture of the plans behind Designer Outlets of MidAmerica, scheduled to break ground in 2009.

According to the nonbinding document, which is up for the council's approval, Continental Iowa Outlets LLC expects the development to have a minimum taxable valuation of $74 million.

The letter, which is signed by Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan, said the city would provide grants of $14 million to the company. The document sets several construction deadlines for the company to receive portions of the money.

The project would be finished no later than Dec. 31, 2012.

According to Hanafan's proposal, the city would spend $2 million to purchase a portion of the Sapp Brothers Travel Center necessary to widen 24th Street, and widen and improve the street.

The letter requests that the entire site be classified a planned commercial district.

Hanafan said Friday that he has worked with the developers for nearly a year. Retailers at the new shopping center would be "top-end," and the mall would be a regional as well as a local draw, he added.

The developers' decision to build the 450,000-square-foot mall on 47 acres near the intersection of Interstates 80 and 29 came, in part, because of what's happening across the river in Omaha, Hanafan said, citing the decision to build a ballpark downtown and ongoing expansion at Henry Doorly Zoo.

"There are just so many things in the metro area that that makes a difference," he said.

[cbjason]

I think what was mentioned in the mayor's plan hits the nail right on the head. This corridor will be a major draw once all the retail construction and interstate reconstruction is all finished. People from the more affluent east side of CB and rest of SW Iowa will have quick and easy access from I80 and I29 while also bringing poeple from the closer parts of omaha. But more importantly all visitors that come for major events and conventions at the Quest, the new ballpark, and the casinos (the CWS, NCAA basketball tournament, college volleyball and wresting championships, olympic trials and not to maention a world class zoo) will have a convenient place to stay, eat and shop.

[Mastermind]

What's the deal with this development? It was suppose to open in Summer of 2010, anyone have information on this project?

[BenRoethig]

Like most things, in the holding pattern from the banking freeze. There's a lot of projects out there that the developers are still committed to that they can't get financing for.