Investors seek expansion of Branson’s Grand Village Shops

Many of the same investors who brought Grand Village Shops into existence 22 years ago are seeking an expansion designed to give Branson its own kind of Beale Street.

CenterCore Branson Development LLC is working to develop The Alley on a 10-acre tract between Highway 76 and Green Mountain Drive. Investors are planning entertainment venues, a microbrewery, a hotel, restaurants, retail stores and a recording studio that would be open to the public - like the one Sun Records has on Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn.

“With the investment that’s being made along 76, it just kind of comes together timing wise; the economy, mortgage rates, all those things – it seems like it’s time to do something,” said Stephen Critchfield, an investor-member of the CenterCore management team and a Branson real estate broker with Commercial One Brokers.

Critchfield declined to disclose the investment in the project and said construction would start after proposal requests are returned by architects and general contractors.

Grand Village Shops reportedly brings in 1 million-plus shoppers per year. The shopping center has around 30 stores.

A listing sent out this week by Commercial One Brokers indicates the owners are selling lots at The Alley ranging from $665,000 to $1.4 million.