Bass Pro drops out as waterfront anchor - Nine-year courtship ends; "unresolved" issues cited By Mark Sommer
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Bass Pro drops out as waterfront anchor - Downtown - The Buffalo News Page 1 of 5
T
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. chairman
Jordan Levy announced that Bass Pro had withdrawn from the Canal Side project.
Derek Gee / Buffalo News
Bass Pro drops out as waterfront
anchor
Nine-year courtship ends; "unresolved" issues
cited
By Mark Sommer
Published:July 30, 2010, 2:19 PM
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Updated: July 31, 2010, 9:01 AM
Bass Pro Shops has been told by a growing chorus of Buffalonians -- and in an
ultimatum issued last week by Rep. Brian Higgins -- to sink or swim.
On Friday, it sank.
Jim Hagale, president of the Springfield, Mo.-based outdoors retailer, told Higgins in a
two-page letter it is pulling the plug, putting an end to a highly public courtship that
began nine years ago.
Bass Pro had become a community lightning rod, and it was one of the factors Johnny
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Morris, the company's chairman, cited in explaining the company's decision to Jordan
Levy, chairman of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp.
Critics denounced the use of tens of millions in public subsidies to reel it in; demanded a
living wage and other agreements in exchange for a transfer of city land; released a
report that cast doubt on Bass Pro's ability to generate economic development and boost
tax rolls; and filed a lawsuit claiming the project violated the state constitution.
In addition, Higgins, D-Buffalo, publicly released a letter sent to Morris and Hagale
issuing a 14-day deadline for the company to sign a lease. The deadline was this coming
Monday.
"The fact is, over the last six months and probably over the last six years, this has
developed a life on its own, and we couldn't manage it," Levy said. "And I guess people
in this community, small segments and pockets, just decided they wanted to see
something else."
Despite the increasingly negative public reaction to Bass Pro -- including a malaise some
have called "Bass Pro fatigue" -- negotiations between the harbor corporation and the
company continued at a robust pace up until Morris called a halt.
"If I was to use a sports analogy, we're probably at the five-yard line right now. It's very
important that we don't fumble from here on in," Eric Recoon, Benderson's vice
president of development and leasing, said Friday, only hours before Bass Pro's decision
was made public.
Hagale's letter said a number of issues had not been settled as the deadline neared.
"There are numerous critical reasons for our position, including the fact that several
major issues fundamental to the successful completion of the project remain
unresolved," Hagale wrote.
Later, after acknowledging that "this process has taken far too long," Hagale wrote, "You
stated in your letter that the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. could proceed
successfully with the Canal Side project without our involvement. We believe this
approach would be in the best interests of all parties . . "
Higgins said Bass Pro took advantage of the deadline to gracefully exit.
"They're not coming, but they never were. They've always wanted an out -- I gave them
an out," the congressman said.
"The good thing is, we are going to make something of this waterfront, and for the first
time in nine years, it's within our control as a community to make the best waterfront
that will accrue to the life quality and economic vitality of the city and entire region."
At a news conference, Levy didn't hide his "thorough disappointment" over Bass Pro's
withdrawal but expressed confidence that the planned mix of restaurants,
entertainment, retail, office, residences and hotels will move forward.
"This project is, and always has been, bigger than Bass Pro," Levy said. "Canal Side is
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under way, and we remain absolutely committed to the redevelopment and
revitalization of Buffalo's waterfront. ...
"Frankly and honestly, this is a new day, a new start, and we are going to make
something great on our waterfront," he said.
Bass Pro was to be the centerpiece of the waterfront makeover, a magnet for new shops
and hordes of visitors powered by $154 million in public funds, $105 million of it from a
recently concluded agreement with the New York Power Authority.
Some $35 million was to go to build the Bass Pro store, with tens of millions more
indirectly benefiting the project at Bass Pro's request.
At one time, Bass Pro was to go into Memorial Auditorium, but the beloved site of
Buffalo sports history proved too problematic, so it was razed to give Bass Pro a shovel-
ready canvas just steps from Lake Erie after objections prevented it from being built on
the wharf.
The project burst into the region's collective consciousness in 2001, when then-Mayor
Anthony M. Masiello touted the benefits of Bass Pro, then a growing retailer that chose
its locations selectively.
That was after Bob and Mindy Rich, next-door neighbors of Morris', first presented the
idea of moving the Missouri-based company eastward to Buffalo. The Riches have
remained key behind-the-scenes supporters. Mindy Rich serves as a nonvoting member
of the harbor corporation board, and Maureen Hurley, a top Rich Products executive, is
a board member. Harbor Corporation Vice Chairman Larry Quinn is also a longtime
friend of the Riches.
"They only open one store in a given region, and if they select Buffalo, we would have
the only Bass Pro Shop in the Northeast," Masiello said in 2001. Since then, Bass Pro
has opened stores in Auburn and near Toronto. Bass Pro also has shops in Harrisburg,
Pa., Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio.
Morris seemed to like the idea of a Bass Pro in Buffalo.
"We've got this little red map that our folks do that shows the intensity -- where there's a
big gathering and concentration of people who love the outdoors," Morris said in 2004.
"That's one of the things that got us excited about this opportunity, realizing how many
[fishermen and hunters there are here] and the concentration and the natural resources
of this part of the world."
A nonbinding memorandum of understanding was passed in 2005 to bring Bass Pro to
Buffalo, and both sides entered into negotiations after the environmental review process
was completed that March. But despite public pronouncements by harbor corporation
officials on how imminent the elusive agreement seemed to be -- Quinn said he was
"supremely confident" of an agreement being reached less than two weeks ago -- a deal
couldn't be consummated.
Burt Flickinger III, a leading retail analyst and consultant, said he believes that is a good
thing, warning that locating a Bass Pro store on the waterfront could have been a
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colossal mistake.
Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group in New York City, said the
company was "10 years too late" coming the region, noting that its competitors, such as
Cabela's and Gander Mountain, had already done so.
He also said the market for sports retail chains is saturated, with bankruptcies on the
rise. The company's expansion into Auburn and north of Toronto significantly reduced
its pool of potential customers. And fishing and hunting in Western New York is in
decline, with active outdoors enthusiasts making up less than 10 percent of consumers.
Flickinger also said the climate for commercial real estate was not in the project's favor.
"We're in the worst commercial and real estate recession in 70 years, there is declining
employment and consumers are more cash- and credit-constrained than they've been in
decades," the analyst said.
Arun Jain, a University at Buffalo professor of marketing, said he thought "the whole
fiasco with Bass Pro is something Buffalonians would like to forget about."
"The whole argument that somehow Bass Pro will deliver thousands and thousands of
new visitors and customers to Buffalo had no basis," Jain said. "This was the wrong
move by people who never thought more broadly about the possibility of this location."
Recoon said Benderson Development did its homework on Bass Pro, including hearing
rave reviews from landlords around the country. The company, he said, brought
"cachet" and a track record of proven success to the project.
Like Levy, Recoon said the plan is to follow the same development model. Plans are in
place to make 10 presentations in the next 30 days to "unique, destination retailers out
there," with "subsidies and incentives" available.
"The deal starts fresh from today," Recoon said.
Click here to watch video from Friday's news conference on Bass Pro.
msommer@buffnews.com
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