More than 100 acres of retail planned July 27, 2007

Frontiersman

WASILLA - A town square of sorts is planned for Wasilla, though not the kind some community groups have been asking for.

Instead of a central public gathering place, the proposed 420,000-square-foot Creekside Town Square retail park will sit more squarely within the vernacular that characterizes much of the city's Parks Highway commercial corridor.

Anchorage-based Meritage Development Group plans to develop around 90 acres of Parks Highway frontage by 2009 for a combination of big box stores, chain restaurants, medium-sized retailers and small shops the developer describes as a &#8220lifestyle center.” An additional 450,000-square-foot development, dubbed Gateway Crossing, will focus on big box stores, according to a Meritage project overview. Built atop the hill between Sears and Lowe's Home Improvement, the new big box developments would be visible for miles.

Jim Barret, an attorney for Meritage owner Jack Barret, told the Alaska Journal of Commerce that the Creekside development would house Wasilla's new Sportsman's Warehouse box store, an Applebee's chain restaurant, an Allen and Petersen Cooking and Appliance Center, and other large-scale retailers. Meritage did not comment on which retailers those would be, but said the corporations already have an Anchorage presence.

&#8220Meritage Development Group is currently negotiating with numerous box stores, ranging in size from 15,000 to 150,000 square feet,” the overview says. Those largest stores would be around 3.5 acres in size.

Meritage expects the developments to create a combined 2,250 full-time jobs, which would pay an average of $20,000 a year, according to the overview. That's about $12,000 less than the average annual wage for the Mat-Su Borough and more than $6,000 a year less than the average Mat-Su retail job, according to figures from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The developments would nearly double the number of retail jobs in the Borough, where more residents work in retail than in any other private sector field.

Jim Holycross, Wasilla city planner, is pleased with the potential impact the developments could have on the local economy. Once both projects are complete, the city stands to collect about $5.2 million a year more in sales tax, with the Borough collecting an additional $1.7 million each year in property tax, according to a Meritage impact statement. Meritage expects to pull in more than $194 million in sales annually.

Holycross also said the Meritage projects would be different than other big box parks, such as the vast developments at the intersection of Diamond Boulevard and the Old Seward Highway.

&#8220This really is going to be a top-notch development,” Holycross said, in contrast to what he called the asphalt wastelands seen elsewhere.

Partly that will come from landscaping considerations like treed islands in the parking lots and architectural embellishments. An artist's rendering of Creekside Town Square provided by Meritage depicts a handful of cars traveling a five-lane street between mall-size buildings, their exteriors suggesting an urban shopping district.

Meritage also donated a 300-foot easement along the sides of the developments for greenways. Boardwalks and benches under an eagle nest and along Cottonwood Creek, a salmon stream, would be owned by the city and maintained by the Wasilla Parks and Recreation Department.

&#8220Any time the public can supply comments, and the developer listens and honors those comments as far as keeping native vegetation and developing easements, it's a win-win,” said Cathy Wells of Friends of Mat-Su. A joint meeting is scheduled between FoMS, the city and Meritage to address further issues.

Archie Giddings, Wasilla public works director, said the city was happy with Meritage's decision to turn over that land. Eventually, the city hopes to link more pieces into a greenbelt along Cottonwood Creek, Giddings said.

Developers of the new 161,000-square-foot Target store that will replace the Cottonwood Creek Mall have also set aside a buffer, Holycross said.

Wells said she is happy about those considerations, but wished the same amount of effort had gone into planning the developments' large parking lots. Those lots are only filled to capacity a few days a year, Wells said, but the pavement is there all year long. Wells pointed toward innovative parking lots in northern cities like Seattle and Vancouver that incorporate sections of driveable grid material laid onto grass. Cars can drive and park on the grid material all year long, while the grass minimizes runoff and absorbs heat in the summer. In the winter, snowplows can't tell the difference between the grid and pavement.

Meanwhile, Anchorage-based Titanium Development plans to fill an additional 40 acres near Mat-Su Regional Medical Center with hotels, restaurants, a bank, and a multi-story retail and office complex. That project would cost more than $87 million, with nearly 300,000 square feet of retail and office space, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce. Titanium holds an exclusive 10-year development agreement with the property's owner, Providence Alaska Medical Center, Titanium owner Dave Pfeifer's former employer. Pfeifer oversaw the hospital's purchase of the land in 2005 before going into business for himself.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Will Elliott at 352-2252 or will.elliott@frontiersman.com.