Does anyone know what happened to the new Beef O'brady's that was to open in the Town Center? All we have is a banner, no signs of any work. The Our Best restaurant was built from footer on up and opened in less time. What we need there is Tumbleweed, by name alone it would fit right in. Galligan said he would make things happen at the town center, I was hoping for retail stores, not groundbreakings for sinking more tax dollars in this pit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NOT SUPER BUT HONEST MIKE,

Readers,

We have a story in today (Friday) about the road improvements on Veterans. As part of that, David Mann asked about Beef 'O' Brady's. Jack Koetter, one of the developers, said it's fall as an opening date for Beefs.

Best, Shea Van Hoy

Haha! You beat me to it, NSBHM! Except I was going to use "Where's the Beef's?" as the post topic. LOL!

They should make that area a park.
Plant some trees, put in some picnic tables...

I was beginning to wonder why Galligan had not gotten much to happen out there yet and then I realized he's been in office only 6 months. So far it looks like in that time at least one business has committed to open there so at least things appear to be starting to happen. I'm still hoping that despite many retailers closing more stores than they're opening that we'll be seeing more happening out there before long.

Right now the biggest question in my mind relates to something Mr Koetter said in an interview he gave in 2006 where he said that initially they approached a number of big-box retailers that have since located to Clarksville and that when this occurred the Town Center was at a crossroads. He said that they had no choice at that point but to go down a grade or up a grade in terms of retailers.

I wonder what grade of retailers they are currently hoping to get in there. I hope it's not a grade down.

quote:

Originally posted by MB heights:
They should make that area a park.
Plant some trees, put in some picnic tables...

Yesterday morning I noticed a lot of people out at Towne Center as I drove by. I recognized TG, so I expected that there was some sort of press conference to announce something new, but I didn't see anything.

In the afternoon, however, I did notice the beginnings of a berm being built betweeen Town Center and the theater.

quote:

Originally posted by ismileutoo:
I wonder what grade of retailers they are currently hoping to get in there. I hope it's not a grade down.

Personally, I'm expecting the likes of Big Lots, Ben Franklin, Menard's, True Value, Tractor Supply Co., Costco, etc.

Not that there's anything wrong with a few of those (such as TSC), but they are all generally "discount" stores. Jeff should have lobbied Kohl's to put their store there instead of by Meijer, but I guess the rent must've been too high.

Holy cow... the CJ article hammers Jeffersonville! I love it!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI...07180490/1025/NEWS02

The most disappointing comments are these:

quote:

Galligan said he doesn't want Jeffersonville's stretch of the parkway to overshadow Clarksville's, if that indeed is still possible. The strategy -- if not the last resort -- is toward better, not necessarily bigger.

"We don't want all that glitz and glitter," Galligan said.

quote:

Thanking Jeffersonville for its partnership, Koetter said a Beef O'Brady's restaurant probably will open in the fall and that more announcements of tenants may be but days away. Koetter expects medical-related firms to be in the mix, a spinoff from the construction of the nearby Kentuckiana Medical Center.

Medical-related firms?! So this is a business park now? I thought that's what his land across the street was to be for? Now they're going to put office buildings up?

But the best excerpts are these:

quote:

Clarksville even might move its town hall to accommodate still more commerce. Jeffersonville yesterday celebrated a plan to install a stop light and turning lanes.

quote:

"We're going to get activity and it's going to be good," Koetter said, a statement he well might have made several years ago.

I took the glitz and glitter comment to mean that the Jeff side is suppose to have a more professional look to it. I'm all for that.

Do you think from the article they are saying medical related firms would be in the same section where the beef obradys is going? Maybe they mean those firms would go into the section across the street?

I have found when visiting some other cities where they have very strict codes on what a building is allowed to look like, it begins to get difficult to tell them all apart. (Makes it hard to locate a Big Mac when the McDonalds building looks like all the other buildings.)

quote:

Originally posted by Supermike:

quote:

Originally posted by ismileutoo:
I wonder what grade of retailers they are currently hoping to get in there. I hope it's not a grade down.

Personally, I'm expecting the likes of Big Lots, Ben Franklin, Menard's, True Value, Tractor Supply Co., Costco, etc.

Not that there's anything wrong with a few of those (such as TSC), but they are all generally "discount" stores. Jeff should have lobbied Kohl's to put their store there instead of by Meijer, but I guess the rent must've been too high.

I want a BARNES AND NOBLE, MENARDS, good coffee shop of any kind, and WHOLE FOODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im tired of having to go out of town (bloomington) or across the bridge to access these stores. WE do not need more medical offices there. That will not support what Veterans parkway is all about.

I just read what the C-J carried about the TC. Its what I expected from Dale Moss--the hard truth. This may very well bite Tom in 3 years. OUCH!

quote:

Im tired of having to go out of town (bloomington) or across the bridge to access these stores.

Me too. I'm tired of crossing the river and or ordering online because I can't find a product or a particular store I'm looking for on this side.

One concern is that because of the economy some of the stores we'd like to see here seem to close more or almost more stores than they open. I found this on Barnes and Noble for example.

quote:

As of May 3, 2008, the company operated 717 Barnes & Noble stores and 83 B. Dalton stores. During the first quarter, eleven Barnes & Noble stores were opened and seven were closed. B. Dalton closed two stores during the quarter.

And this on Menards

quote:

The home improvement category began to slow down development in late 2006. However, they all hit the brakes in late 2007 as residential housing sales cooled. Menards opened 3 newlocations, Lowe’s opened 2, and Home Depot did not open any and closed their real estateoffice in Chicago. The future outlook for growth in the category appears minimal as the end to the housing slowdown is uncertain

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ismileutoo,

There is a nice article in today's issue of Business First about the Jeffersonville Town Center. I was going to paste in the URL but realized it is only accessible by paid subscribers so I've copied the article text in below--hope you don't mind the length.

Friday, July 18, 2008
Long-awaited Jeffersonville Town Center shows signs of progress Business First of Louisville - by Sarah Jeffords Pister Staff Writer

In the past five years, there has been a lot of talk about development efforts on the Jeffersonville side of Veterans Parkway in Southern Indiana.

But the only visible action has been a 23,765-square-foot building that has been vacant since its 2007 completion.

Now, despite delays and the difficult economy, developers are moving forward with the Jeffersonville Town Center mixed-use project — though not on the scale originally envisioned.

The first lease agreements have been finalized with L&N Federal Credit Union and a Beef O’Brady’s restaurant, each of which has leased about 4,000 square feet.

Other tenant deals are in the works, along with plans for a $3 million retail center expected to get under way later this year, said Jack Koetter, president of Koetter Five Star Properties Indiana LLC.

Site could total 154 acres
Koetter Five Star Properties is developing the Town Center complex with Cincinnati-based Vision Land Development LLC.

The joint entity, known as Jeffersonville Town Center LLC, owns 57 acres on the south side of Veterans Parkway and another 68 acres on the north side of the roadway. It has an option to buy an adjacent 29 acres that would complete the 154-acre development site.

In 2005, Business First reported that there were plans for more than 1.2 million square feet of commercial space that would house a mix of stores, restaurants, offices and hotels.

The development plans included an old-fashioned town square with upscale shops, offices, restaurants, a movie theater and a multipurpose park.

Anchor needed to draw other tenants
The town square and other portions of the development, however, have not come to fruition.

Koetter acknowledged that there have been “lots of roadblocks” that have delayed and altered the project.

One of the big factors has been the shaky economy, which has influenced retailers’ decisions for at least a couple of years, he said.

Although there has been interest in Jeffersonville, stores have scaled back expansion plans and walked away from signed deals across the country, Koetter said. Without an anchor tenant, it has been difficult to sign smaller tenants.

Changing plans
In light of the changing economic conditions, the developers have re-evaluated their plans for Jeffersonville Town Center.

Last week, Koetter said, the partners contracted with Indianapolis firm Seven Development to help market the property.

Ryan Pennington, founder of Seven Development, is working with Town Center officials to determine what would work in the local market.

The town-square concept likely will be scaled back, and plans for a movie theater are on hold.

Although developers will continue to work toward developing the lifestyle center, the goal now is to develop other pieces of the project where there seems to be more opportunity.

For instance, the proximity of a soon-to-open hospital, Kentuckiana Medical Center, likely will drive demand for medical office buildings on the north side of Veterans Parkway.

The developers also have plans for Class A office space and possibly a hotel in that section of the project.

City’s investment has spurred interest
There also seems to be interest in small retail spaces, especially since Jeffersonville city officials have committed to $1.1 million in road improvements on Veterans Parkway.

The improvements, which got under way yesterday, include new turn lanes and a traffic signal. Also, a new road will be built through the development.

Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan said the new road will help with traffic flow on Veterans Parkway and provide additional access into Jeffersonville Town Center.

The city’s investment has prompted some businesses to sign leases, despite the lack of an anchor tenant, Koetter said.

Besides L&N and Beef O’Brady’s, Koetter said, he has a letter of commitment for another 3,000 square feet in the existing building. Plus, he is in negotiations with potential tenants for the second, 15,000-square-foot building that is planned.

Koetter declined to identify the tenants, but he said the deals would account for about 50 percent of the space.

So he is confident that the project will happen, even if takes another five to 10 years.

“It’s had a lot of setbacks,” he said. “But it’s still a good development, and we want to make sure we do it right.”

Ron Grooms, a member of the Jeffersonville City Council, said many Jeffersonville residents have watched the Clarksville side of Veterans Parkway develop and wonder when Jeffersonville would see similar progress.

“People say, ‘we need more shops, more dining. We need to be like Clarksville,’ ” Grooms said.

His response is, “We’re going to be better than Clarksville. … There’s room for this type of development. There are many other businesses and outlets looking for locations.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

L&N branches into Southern Indiana
L&N Federal Credit Union’s plans to open a new branch in the Jeffersonville Town Center mark an expansion across the river for the Louisville-based credit union.

Tim Root, L&N’s vice president of marketing and community development, said the company signed a lease last month for a nearly 4,000-square-foot space with a drive-through window.

Root said L&N will finish the space, but he declined to disclose how much the company is investing in the new location.

Bayus Design Works Inc. is the interior designer, and the general contractor is Marksbury Cornett Engineering Corp.

The branch is expected to open by early November, and it will employ between six and 10 workers, Root said.

L&N officials have been eyeing Southern Indiana for the past couple of years because the credit union has a strong customer base on that side of the river. Plus, they see a lot of potential for new customers with the growth in that market.

“We definitely feel it has the potential to be a very successful branch,” Root said. “We’re excited about the opportunity.”

Thanks for the info, Mommydeux... I find it interesting how they keep saying "we don't want the glitz" and "we want to be better than Clarksville", but then turn around and say "well, we're having trouble landing an anchor tenant."

Huh? Would Kohl's not have been a good anchor tenant? They pretty much set off the development in New Albany on upper Charlestown Road. What about Staples, Bed/Bath/Beyond, Burlington, and any number of other businesses that have opened in Clarksville over the past 3-4 years?

It will be interesting to see what this "Seven Development" brings to the table. It's obvious that Kent Arnold and "Vision Land" couldn't get it done. If I were that guy, I'd slink away quietly with my tail tucked.

I agree wholeheartedly SuperMike -- the comment that saddened me the most was..."So he is confident that the project will happen, even if it takes another five to 10 years."