09/04/01 Taylor/Glacier MallJames S. Taylor
Principal
September 4, 2001
The Honorable Mayor Bill Boharsky and
The Honorable Members of the Kalispell City Council
The City of Kalispell
312 First A 7en;l(; Fact
Kalispell, MT 59901-1997
Gentlemen:
The purpose of this letter is to provide American Capital's perspective and thoughts with
respect to the upcoming discussions regarding the proposed Glacier Mall in Evergreen.
As you may recall, we first articulated our concerns approximately eighteen months ago
just prior to our acquisition of Gateway West. A copy of that letter is attached for your
convenience.
As we understand the situation, Flathead County has now taken the required steps to
rezone the property required for the Glacier Mall such that the land is appropriately zoned
prior to the October 1" deadline imposed by state law. It is now up to the City of
Kalispell to determine whether or not the property should be annexed and city services
provided.
We do not question that the proposed Glacier Mall would provide substantial benefits to
the Flathead Valley, particularly during the construction period and to the extent that
incremental retail tenants, retail sales and employment opportunities are created.
However, the Glacier Mall may potentially create problems and costs as well in the
following areas:
1. City services, particularly sewer, may become overextended and/or require
additional capacity. Other worthy projects may not be able to hove forward.
2. Traffic, especially on Highway 2 and LaSalle, will be increased substantially and
the traffic patterns for the entire valley impacted. The Highway 93 bypass and
Meridian Avenue widening may be further delayed or eliminated altogether.
115 S. La Cumbre Lane, Suite 302, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Telephone (805) 682-5551 Facsimile (805) 682-8393
3. The city's prior and contemplated investment in the downtown may be
j eopardized.
4. The Kalispell Center Mall will be emptied and several hundred thousand square
feet of dark space will be created (like the former Ernst building). There may be
litigation with respect to the repayment of the tax increment financing and other
issues.
5. The repositioning and rehabilitation of Gateway West, Crop Hail and Gateway
Cinemas may be derailed.
6. The entire downtown core of Kalispell may be so adversely impacted that it
ceases to have any significant retail activity.
As a result of these concerns, we believe that it would appropriate and prudent for the
city to have a benefit/cost study done, which carefully evaluates the full range of impacts
— both favorable and unfavorable — caused by the Glacier Mall.
We realize that the city is facing a difficult decision. We also realize that no matter what
decision is made, the city is likely to be criticized. Given the long term importance of the
decision, we trust that the city will make its decision after carefully analyzing all of the
facts.
Please let us know if we can provide any input to this process.
Enclosure
cc: Chris Kukulski