$600M Pinnacle Falls developer seeks TIF

David Cushman, CEO of Cushman Properties, announced Sept. 14 the 308-acre project with frontage on Highway 376 and West Highway 76 on the west side of Branson. Mel Bilbo, project consultant to Cushman Properties, said the developers would like to break ground in the next three to six months.

First, they must hold a public meeting with the city of Branson, said Bilbo, executive director of Concept Design. Cushman Properties officials would like to meet with the city in the next couple of weeks to further explain the project and request the formation of a tax increment financing district.

Designed around a European hillside village theme, the resort features 300 family suites, an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park and a $40 million to $50 million aquarium. Pinnacle Falls also has specialty shops, themed restaurants, interactive fountains and a glockenspiel clock tower, a German clock with figurines that come out on the hour. Bilbo said the European theme was developed to tie into the ancestral roots of many Ozark residents.

The architect for the project is Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets Inc. of St. Louis. Bilbo, a former senior executive with Anheuser-Busch Theme Parks, the Walt Disney Co. and Herschend Family Entertainment, has worked with PBAV architects on previous projects. “They are awesome for developing a story and giving (a property) a personality,” he said. Cushman added, “They understand how to take a project and create a sense of place.”

Other project partners include leasing agent Urban Retail and Senate Hospitality Group. Bilbo said that during Pinnacle Falls’ first year of operation, projected to be 2009, it expects to generate more than $150 million and attract 4 million visitors with 400,000 incremental new visitors coming to the area. ECS of Newport Beach, Calif., conducted the feasibility study.