Argument in Favor of the Mall

More $$$ for the Area 3-20-01

Monroe is not a Small Town
Monroe is not a small town anymore! I get sooooooooo sick and tired of everyone saying that they moved her for the small town atmosphere! I don't know which Monroe they live in, but it is not Monroe, Ohio 45050! I know Mayberry had a strip club, Hustler Store, truck stop, and alternative lifestyle bar!

Mall would be great for Younger Kids
I think the mall is a great idea! Of course I'm only thirteen. It is hard to express how exited I am about just the idea or it! It's so cool! The land they picked is a great spot for a mall. It needs a little living up. By the way EyesWideOpen get over your green land, Its not going to be here forever!

Much has been made of the proposed value center mall on land in Monroe now under option by the Taubman Company of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Unfortunately, the group opposed to this development has gone to great lengths to sensationalize and mislead residents as to its impact. It is important to look at what is fact and what is fiction, weigh the facts as they exist and then draw logical conclusions. This land under option is part of Corridor 75 Park, an 800 acre industrial and commercial development. Corridor 75 Park, Ltd. is a small group of investors, two of us reside in Middletown. This property has been owned by four various corporations since 1958, all with the intent of developing the land for industrial purposes. Those people familiar with Monroe and the area recognize that for decades this land has been one of the major industrial and commercial sites in all of southwestern Ohio, This land has considered for steel and chemical companies, automobile manufacturing plants and an airport.

The opinion of the opposition is that the growth of Cincinnati to the north and Dayton to the south must stop. The fact is that planners as early as the 1950’s saw that the natural progression and growth of the population in southwestern Ohio was going to be along the new interstate highways, specifically that Dayton and Cincinnati would become closer as a result of Interstate 75. That is why in 1961, this very land was under consideration for the Southwestern Ohio Regional Airport, a new airport envisioned to consolidate the air traffic of both then Greater Cincinnati and Dayton airports into a new, modern jet airport. While this new airport project “never got off the ground”, this area was targeted as being right in the middle of the larger metropolitan region some 40 years ago. Many screams of “foul” have come about from our opponents with the request for a new interchange. Again, facts play an important role here. The I-75 & State Route 63 interchange has remained as it was when it opened in 1963. Anyone who uses it knows of the ever present congestion, especially on weekends. The truck traffic here is more than six times the national average according to the Federal Highway Administration. While upgrades are in the works, studies and models show that simply using current land use plans, existing businesses and projected growth patterns and not including the mall development, O.D.O.T. predicts the I-75/State Route 63 interchange reaches failure in the year 2009 even with the planned improvements.

However, with the proposed new interchange, using the same traffic studies and models, but including the mall development, neither interchange reaches failure through the year 2025. The new interchange is expected to cost around $23 million not $54 million as the opponents have stated. At the TRAC hearing, the request was made for approximately 40% state funding. This is an opportunity to solve a known problem, but with the state only contributing 40% rather than ten years from now where the state will pay 100%. Here is another item which is overlooked. While the state would contribute around $11 million for the interchange, the increased sales tax revenue the state receives just from the mall itself is projected to be $18 to $20 million each year. Regardless of any other factors, this is a very good return on investment for all of us taxpayers. Pollution of our air and water is another battle cry of the opposition. Technology, engineering and yes, even the dreaded emissions check, have enabled this area to improve our air to a level of attainment status from the EPA, even though more vehicles are on the roads than ever before. The bigger issue is that our land can be used for heavy manufacturing. This also means more trucks and rail traffic and smokestacks. We have all seen how the environment can be damaged from industrial accidents and spills. With regard to damage to the aquifer, the ground water maps from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources clearly show that the value center mall is not over an aquifer. The land is also primarily heavy clay which will not allow for percolation of ground water. Given that this land will be developed, the proposed value mall is a most reasonable and non-threatening use of the land.

Our opposition goes onto say that the mall will cause overcrowding of the schools. How does this happen? Perhaps the assumption is that new jobs create more people moving into the market and that buying new homes and helping the economy of the region by living and working here will mean families will appreciate and want to be a part of the school district. Right now, the City of Monroe has more than 1500 new single family home sites platted in several new subdivisions. Monroe and its new school district are ready and anticipating new growth. In addition, we have met with both Middletown’s, Lebanon’s and Lakota’s superintendents to discuss this development, all of whom see the mall as having a positive impact, not the negative as the opponents would have you believe.

Employment at the value center mall is anticipated to be from 2500 to 3000.

The annual payroll is targeted to be $177,000,000. Once the mall and the out-parcels are fully developed, the estimated total tax revenue paid to the schools, the city, the counties and the state is $58,000,000. (By the way, state law does not allow tax abatement for commercial developments as it does for industrial developments.) This generation of new tax dollars can play a major role in providing for not only the schools, but the entire region.

Here is perhaps the strangest claim made: “there are enough malls.” We were all taught in school the basis of economics which is supply and demand. Why would anyone risk any money, let alone $200 million, if the market research says there is too much of something? Missing from their argument is the fact that the value center mall has been designed for stores, shops and entertainment areas not readily found in this region. This is not a typical regional mall as one might find within 20, 40 or 100 minutes from here. The market draw is different, the concept is different, the opportunities are different. While it may be true that there are some malls which may not be performing up to expectations, those malls have been under performing for some time and one would need to investigate the management, the marketing, the mix of tenants and many other specifics to determine as to why some centers do well when others do not.

But let’s take one more step which has not been discussed. Who are these other mall owners and operators and what are they doing to stop Taubman? One of the major players in the market did say last fall that they knew if they could stop the interchange, it would be more difficult for the value center mall to move ahead. The Sierra Club did state that they “pick and choose their battles carefully” answering why they are fighting this particular proposed mall. Almost 1,000,000 square feet of new retail space in two smaller retail centers has recently been announced by the Tylersville Road and Union Centre Boulevard interchanges. We have not heard a sound from the opposition with regard to these developments. Yet the National Sierra Club overlooks the other nearby developments and chooses to condemn ours. Perhaps this is just a coincidence of the competition and the opposition working independently on stopping Taubman’s development. Perhaps not.

It is curious to note that during the various public meetings by the Monroe Planning Committee and the Monroe City Council, including the public hearings, not one single person attended from the opposition to comment about the mall’s plans. Yet we, the supporters, are blasted for not coming to the opposition’s sponsored rally.

In summary, the Taubman Company is regarded as one of the top retail and entertainment developers in the country. They are one of the best performing publicly traded REIT’s in the market. Locally, our company has been involved with industrial and commercial development in this market for many, many years resulting in nearly $1 billion of new capital investment and thousands of jobs created. The City of Monroe has demonstrated time and again that they are most capable and professional in the evaluation and implementation of industrial and commercial developments. Our plans are as they have ever been and that is the development of Corridor 75 Park into a well planned, well managed, carefully designed industrial and commercial park.

President, Robinson Lawton Kent Realtors
Partner, Corridor 75 Park, Ltd.

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Argument opposed to the mall