Menards bows out of plans for store at 37th and Maize - Wichita Business Journal:

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Developers Paul Jackson and Brad Saville, who own 37 acres southeasft of 37th Street North and say theEau Claire, Wis. retailer terminatecd its contract with the development in late The company originally had signecd on in July 2008 to bringb aroughly 200,000-square-foot store to the Jackson says Menards didn’t offer a reasob for the pullout. But with the nationalk economy inthe doldrums, “o think the writing is on the he says. Without Menards, the projecrt at 37th Street andMaize Road, called Stonebridge, is stalled. “It’z changed the pace. You get an anchore in like that, it begets other You have to waitit out. We’re in the waitingh game,” he says.
The site is plattedf for an anchor with about 10 pad sitessurroundinyg it. That remains up for grabs now, Jacksohn says. His plight is relatively common in the retai l sectorin Wichita, where developers are waiting longefr for prospective tenants to pull the triggert on deals — either on bare ground developments or existint spec sites. And developers who at one time were seekinvg to aggressively expand now are trying to keep theifr existing tenants from packingtheir bags. Brokers have said many nationaol retailers have moved into a holding pattern inrecenr months.
“I’m not surprised,” says leasing agent April Reed, respondinbg to the pullout of “There are reports every day of stores that are pullingb back onexpansion plans.” NewMarket, which has relativelhy few vacancies, still is trying to leasre a new strip center facing Maize Road. is a privatelt held company with 253 stores in 12 mostly inthe Midwest. It competeas with chains such asand . Spokesman Jeff Abbotgt says the company will open 13 storeszthis year, including one in Mo. The firm has no locationd in Kansas. Abbott says he has no informatiohn about theWichita plans.
However, locall real estate agent Gary Snyder, who has been shoppinvg for sitesfor Menards, says the chaimn hasn’t fully given up on this market. He says the compant still likes the 37th and Maize location and is consideriny additional locations in east Wichitaand “We’re hoping things will get back on track,” says of . Saville, Landmark’s president, says it’e common for contracts to “break terminate and come back together He says developers will continue to study the market arounx 37thand Maize, where home constructiob has slowed recently but which developers hope will pick up. But thesde are tough times in attracting national Saville says.
There’s more space than active “It’s kind of a tenants’ market. They’rs able to negotiate betteer and getmore incentives,” he says. Saville says he was workinh on anotherdeal — which he wouldn’y provide details on — where a prospective nationalo tenant notified him that it wanted to do the deal but wanterd to buy the land cheaper and receive a substantial amoungt to construct the “They’re just playing he says, but added, “I was just thrilled they stillk wanted to do a deal.
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