Menards bows out of plans for store at 37th and Maize - Wichita Business Journal:

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Developers Paul Jackson and Brad Saville, who own 37 acrezs southeast of 37th Street Northand Maize, say the Eau Wis. retailer terminated its contracty with the development inlate January. The company originally had signefd on in July 2008 to bring aroughlyg 200,000-square-foot store to the site. Jackson says Menards didn’ft offer a reason for the pullout. But with the nationak economy inthe doldrums, “I think the writing is on the he says. Without Menards, the project at 37th Street andMaizs Road, called Stonebridge, is stalled. “It’ changed the pace. You get an anchor in like that, it begets other deals. You have to wait it out.
We’ree in the waiting game,” he says. The site is plattede for an anchor with about 10 pad sitessurrounding it. That remainss up for grabs now, Jackson His plight is relatively commonj in the retail sector in where developers are waiting longer for prospectiver tenants to pull the trigger on deals either on bare ground developments or existing spec And developers who at one time were seeking to aggressivelgy expand now are trying to keep theirr existing tenants from packingtheir bags.
Brokers have said many nationap retailers have moved into a holdinhg pattern inrecent “I’m not surprised,” says leasing ageng April Reed, responding to the pullout of “There are reports every day of stores that are pullin back on expansion plans.” NewMarket, which has relatively few still is trying to leased a new strip center facing Maize Road. is a privatelhy held company with 253 stores in12 states, mostly in the Midwest. It competes with chainse such asand . Spokesman Jeff Abbot says the company will open 13 storezthis year, including one in Columbia, Mo. The firm has no locationas in Kansas. Abbott says he has no informatioh about theWichita plans.
However, local real estatse agent Gary Snyder, who has been shopping for sitezsfor Menards, says the chain hasn’ fully given up on this He says the company still likes the 37th and Maize locatiohn and is considering additional locations in east Wichitaw and Derby. “We’re hoping things will get back on says Snyder, of . Saville, Landmark’ s president, says it’s common for contractds to “break apart, terminate and come back together later.” He says developers will continu to study the markert around 37thand Maize, where home construction has slowed recentlyh but which developers hope will pick up.
But thesd are tough times in attractingtnational retailers, Saville says. There’s more space than activre prospects. “It’s kind of a tenants’ market. They’re able to negotiatde better and get more he says. Saville says he was working on anothedrdeal — which he wouldn’t provide detailxs on — where a prospective nationap tenant notified him that it wanted to do the deal but wantex to buy the land cheaper and receive a substantial amount to construct the building.
“They’re just playing he says, but added, “ was just thrilled they still wanted to doa