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| El Paso-owned and proud |
Jul. 25 - Jul. 31
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Farah project back on track
Demolition of nearby properties begins
By Timothy Roberts |
Plans for a shopping center at the site of the old Farah plant were put on hold last winter when the economy slipped into recession.
So why are the old Howard Johnson’s Motel and the former International House of Pancakes at the edge of the Farah property falling to the wrecking ball?
Because the project is back on.
“We are moving forward in an attempt to keep the project moving and the tenants on board,” says West Miller, the former senior vice president for investments at Regency Centers, a shopping center development company.
In April, Miller left Regency and formed his own company, Centergy Retail. That’s also when Miller told Paul Foster, CEO of Western Refining Inc. and the money behind the project, that he would stick with the program. The retail center will be called The Fountains.
“I’ve made a commitment to Paul to continue to bring my relationships with the tenants to procure the development,” Miller told El Paso Inc. in a telephone interview from his office in Dallas. “I’ve stayed with this project because I believe this project can and will happen.”
Man with a plan
The plans remain the same: A $100-million investment to turn the 50-acre site of the old Farah textile plant into shops. The old buildings will be torn down. There would be what Miller called lifestyle elements in the outdoor shopping area. Interesting architecture would be emphasized.
The entitlements that were obtained from the city and county government remain the same. The developer will receive up to $12 million dollars in tax rebates, which it obtained last year and early this year. A protracted fight at the county delayed the start of the project as the economy slid into recession.
The City of El Paso voted for up to $8 million in incentives. But the County Commissioners voted the proposal down in October. After November’s elections brought two new members to the five-member body, the commissioners approved $4 million in incentives in February.
The recession may be ending, but economists predict it will be some time before the unemployment rate begins to drop and the impact of the economic improvements reach most people.
But Miller says the economy here isn’t as bad as it is elsewhere in the country. Moreover, he says things will improve by the time The Fountains opens in 2011.
“We’ve had a hiccup in the economy,” he said. “We’ve seen these cycles before, but this (project) is a long-term development.”
New tenants
Kathy Dodson, the economic development director for El Paso, says she expected the project to survive the downturn.
“El Paso is tracking much better than the national economy,” Dodson said. “We’ve seen new retailers open here. There is a market here.”
Adds Victor Venegas, economic development coordinator, “We’ve never had any indication that this project wouldn’t get built.”
The city is looking forward to seeing something productive on the site where the million-square-foot building sits vacant, Dodson said.
“Right now the property is not generating any revenue for El Paso,” she said. “The property tax is low. The property is blighted. It’s not being used at all.”
Putting the property to use, she said, “will generate a lot of revenue in terms of payroll and sales taxes. It will be a dramatic change for the city.”
Miller would not reveal the names of the shops that he’s been talking to, but says they will be net new tenants, not companies that have shops elsewhere in the city.
The city’s incentives require the development to bring in new shops and not cannibalize nearby Bassett Place Mall, Cielo Vista Mall or Las Palmas Marketplace.
A spokesman for Indianapolis-based Simon Properties, which owns the Cielo Vista Mall, said he could not respond to a request to comment until Monday. De la Vega Group, developer of Las Palmas Market Place in Far East El Paso, did not respond to a request for comment.
“There’s no reason for us to rebate taxes if a store just moves from one location to another,” Dodson said.
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