Thursday, February 15, 2018

Bellmont Promenade - WOW or WHOOPS

Did Legacy Development snow the City with their proposal for the Bellmont Promenade project at Maurer and SMP?

A recent article in the Shawnee Mission Post https://shawneemissionpost.com/2018/02/12/hobby-lobby-dicks-sporting-goods-proposed-anchors-bellmont-promenande-shawnee-69711 indicates that two of the proposed anchors are Hobby Lobby and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Huh?  We had a Hobby Lobby in Shawnee at Pflumm and SMP about a mile or so from the Bellmont Promenade project.  It was closed, because Hobby Lobby consolidated some of their stores into a new location near Ikea on Johnson Drive.  Is Hobby Lobby really going to come back to Shawnee?  I'd question that.  Would Dick's Sporting Goods really put a store in Shawnee with one in the Merriam Town Center across the road from the Ikea location.

Look at the list of the other proposed tenants.  Where is the WOW that the developer said we would get?  Where are the truly unique destination businesses that would draw shoppers from outside of Shawnee?

Was the city given a snow job?  I remember all of the HS students that spoke in favor of the project.  They said they wanted to have jobs closer to home (understandable) as opposed to working at  the Legends at Village West.  But seriously, what kind of jobs would HS students be qualified for?  Would they be jobs in upscale WOW type of destination retailers.

IMHO, this project is not a WOW.  It is a WHOOPS.