Eyes and Ears: Bass Pro deal hung up in Supreme Court

The harshest reaction is in Denham Springs, La., where a brief was led Sept. 21 with the Louisiana Supreme Court opposing the nature of Bass Pro's development plan, which puts to use $26 million worth of public monies. The fate of a 75-acre development contingent on Bass Pro building there now rests with the courts. A Supreme Court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 29.

A. Ponder Jones, a resident of Louisiana's Livingston Parish, led the brief stating that using sales tax revenues to pay off the project's $50 million in bonds is unconstitutional.

Those tax monies, based on voter approval, are earmarked for teacher salaries, law enforcement and road maintenance, according to the brief.

The Denham Springs School Board, city of Denham Springs, Livingston Parish Council, the sheriff and the state have agreed to sacrfiice up to 79 percent of their sales tax revenues to pay off the bonds under a tax increment financing plan approved by each entity.

The deal is similar to others Bass Pro has reached, such as the $24 million incentives package from Broken Arrow, Okla., and most recently in Independence, where its City Council Oct. 19 approved a $70 million TIF district for Crackerneck Creek, a planned development north of U.S. Highway 40 and west of Interstate 470 outside Kansas City. As Crackerneck Creek's anchor tenant, Bass Pro is slated to receive about $25 million for store construction.

According to Bass Pro spokesman Larry Whiteley, the company expected resistance from some markets when it accelerated expansion plans more than four years ago. Two stores have opened this year to much fanfare in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Auburn, N.Y., and about a dozen more are slated to open over the next two years, with many involving public financing mechanisms. In its previous 32 years, Bass Pro opened 22 stores.

"You never know with these things," Whiteley said, adding that community resistance often stems from misinformation.

"There is a lack of understanding of how it works and how it can benefit them so much," Whiteley said, citing job creation from Bass Pro approximately 300 jobs per store and new businesses it attracts, greater tax revenues and increased tourism.

Independence's payoff is an estimated $83 million in Bass Pro-generated taxes, based on projected store revenues of $226 million over the 23-year life of the TIF, plus rent, according to the Independence Tax Increment Financing Commission report in The Examiner.

Additionally, the city expects to reap benefits from nearly 450,000 square feet of retail space and a hotel to be developed in Crackerneck Creek.

Whiteley said Bass Pro is not too concerned about the Louisiana Supreme Court outlawing the proposed TIF district in that state.

"From what I've heard there is one gentleman down there that is stirring up the pot. He's done that on other things down there, too," he said.

Whiteley said Bass Pro's plan B should Denham Springs not pan out is simply moving on to another community.

"We have no lack of opportunities, that's for sure," he said. "Who knows what will happen with it? We'll have to wait and see."

Meanwhile, Bass Pro is seizing opportunities in three new cities this month.

New stores

The company's unprecedented expansion crossed U.S. borders when its first Canadian store opened Nov. 4 in Toronto. That opening, followed by new Outdoor World stores in Las Vegas, Nov. 16, and Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 18, matches the busiest grand opening month in company history and sets a new record.

"We've never had two in one week," Whiteley said.

At 225,000 square feet, Harrisburg's store, which is part museum, art gallery, and education, conservation and entertainment center, is second largest next to Springfield's headquarters store.

While each new store tailors to the area where it's developed, everything from architecture to material fabrication is done locally, Whiteley said.

"Ozarks craftsmen are creating these stores for other parts of the country," Whiteley said.

Bass Pro's architectural team creates designs, usually in the Adirondack style seen in Springfield, and its Nixa fabrication shop builds fixtures, and cabinetry and does log and copper work for interior elements.

Eric Olson is Springeld Business Journal news editor.