OUTPOST: Outdoors news and notes
Bass : Open statewide. Walleye, northern pike, muskellunge: Open statewide. Trout: Through Sept. 30 in most streams and lakes. Deer: License applications ($4) are available through Aug. 1 for antlerless deer on public land, at license dealers or online at www.michigan.gov/dnr.
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But now Jacob FaKouri, the developer who beat the odds to get Bass Pro for Livingston, has the upper hand. He's got the lease signed by Bass Pro. As long as E. Jacob FaKouri Development hits the undisclosed marks set in that pact, Bass Pro will open in early 2005 on 26 acres surrounded by a 6-acre lake on Range Avenue just off Interstate 12.
Casting About
It's widely known in real estate circles that Bass Pro is a big catch. Olinde's group, represented by real estate firm Thornton, Harvison & Rhodes, had been trying to convince Bass Pro to locate in Ascension for about two years, hoping to make money developing shadow retail around the anchor, which baits avid sportsmen to drive for hours just to gawk at the goods.
The real estate firm has its lips zipped on why Bass Pro unexpectedly landed a parish over. But sources say one stopping point for that deal was Bass Pro's unwillingness to open its private books, which was necessary to secure bank financing, an obstacle Livingston hurdled by avoiding private lenders.
Also, a source connected to Olinde says Bass Pro was asking the developer for too much money.
In Baton Rouge, Bass Pro had looked to locate around Argosy Gaming in downtown, just as it has in a casino-connected development in Bossier City. Camm Morton of Commercial Properties Development Corp. was spearheading the negotiation with Bass Pro for downtown. Morton has a good track record in dealmaking--he had already managed to save Bon Carre Business Center and to get Bob Dean to agree on a sale of the Capitol House, which is slated for renovation as a 315-room hotel.
This time, the deal seems to have gotten away from him. "I think we were a little late in the game," said Morton.
Bass Pro was already six months into talks with Livingston before Baton Rouge decided that the store could be all economic driver for downtown.
Still, competing developers are not giving up on Bass Pro and not ready to tell the story about the one that got away until they see the store under construction in Denham Springs.
Sources say Morton and Olinde don't believe Livingston can get the deal done. That's because its method of financing the project with sales taxes generated from the store may not provide enough money to pay off proposed bonds that would build the store. "Livingston Parish does not have the project," one developer said.
FaKouri and his partners--Langlois and Carl Guy--disagree. Says Langlois: "They won't believe it until the shovels go into the ground."
The three are cocksure that Bass Pro will locate on FaKouri's land.
FaKouri asserts that Bass Pro wants the Livingston location because it connects Florida to Texas while bypassing the traffic on I-10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Another reason for the certainty: FaKouri said he and Bass Pro founder John Morris hit it off. Morris, described by Guy as a humble man, even rode in the back of a truck to look over the store site.
As for Bass Pro, the privately held company won't say much about its business or provide details about why it chose Livingston. Nor will it provide the terms of the agreement or even a glimpse at its finances.
Calling all ducks
The company will talk about its stores, though.
"It's like walking into the outdoors when you go indoors because of the waterfalls, log works, acquariums and attention to detail," said Bass Pro spokesman Larry Whiteley.
Bass Pro is to outdoor enthusiasts what Whole Foods is to foodies and what Wal-Mart is to the price-conscious. But Bass Pro is no Wal-Mart. It promotes its deep inventory and shopping experience, which Whiteley calls "shoppertainment."
Mark Clark, a Baton Rougean who enjoys camping, gawked on his visit to Bass Pro in Houston. "I had never been to anything like it. It was awe-inspiring."
Clark, who once worked for retailer Dillard's, says Bass Pro is the ultimate category killer. "They have specialty areas just for goose calling versus duck calling. They had a guy who sold nothing but duck calls. You can get a duck call at Wal-Mart, but you can't choose from 300."
The stores, too, are a spectacle. They look like giant log cabins and have 30,000-gallon aquariums that feature local fish. Some of them have attached local restaurants, and Bass Pro is considering one for Denham Springs.
The showrooms offer seminars on topics such as fly fishing, deer hunting and even dog training. They have specialized stores within stores and boat service centers.
They are huge. The biggest one, at the Springfield, Mo., headquarters, is 300,000 square feet, 100,000 square feet more than the Wal-Mart under construction on College Drive. The Denham Springs location is planned for 150,000 square feet, about 25 percent larger than the typical Bass Pro Outdoor World.
Because Bass Pro builds the stores far apart--there are only 20 in the country--people drive for miles to visit, and they are likely to spend the night at local hotels when they get there.
"We've had folks drive eight hours to the store," Whiteley said.
On average, 3 million customers visit a typical Bass Pro in a year.
FaKouri said Bass Pro expects about two-thirds of the customers for the Denham Springs store to come from outside the Baton Rouge metropolitan market.
On the hook
The influx of outside money is part of the pitch Livingston will use in seeking public money to build the store.
The retailer, says John Ware, executive director of the Livingston Economic Development Council, will be a money-maker for the state, which is why it deserves to be in a special district where state and local sales taxes generated by the entire project are funneled to pay bonds for building the store. Such a financing mechanism, commonly called tax incremental financing (TIF), is relatively new to Louisiana and has been sparingly used so far.
The only TIF approved for the Baton Rouge area so far is for renovating the Capitol House Hotel, which will use bed taxes to fund the 315-room renovation.
"With 300 jobs and the economic activity that surrounds the projects, plus the new revenue that comes in, we consider it a significant win for everybody," Ware said of Bass Pro.
The Denham Springs City Council has already blessed the project. If a Legislative joint committee on the budget approves funneling the money for Bass Pro early next year, then a special district will be created to handle the deal.
Essentially, taxpayers would pay to give the store to the company.
"We are proposing that everybody will get some new revenue as a result of the project," said Ware.
That's the hook for most of the Bass Pro deals in other cities, which have been tossing money at the company in exchange for what is believed to be a boost in sales tax dollars from people who live outside the area. Hampton, Va., for instance, was putting up $22 million for the store, including $14 million from the developer and $ million from the municipality.
Ware says it's uncertain how much the store will cost to build, but Jimmy Lyles, president of the Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge, says the estimate is $20 million.
From Bass Pro to the developer to public officials, none of the parties closest to the deal will discuss any specifics about the retailer's finances, which are key to funding the public bonds for construction. How much Bass Pro generates at the store figures into whether the financing will get done.
A source who worked on one of the competing deals said Bass Pro's revenue per store is about $400 per square foot, which means the Denham Springs store could ring up $60 million a year, spinning off $ million in sales taxes per year. The figure is backed by numbers from Oklahoma City, which expected Brass Pro to generate $40 million in sales from a 110,000-square-foot store.
How much of Livingston's projected $ million in sales taxes will be available for bonding won't be known until government bodies agree to give up their shares of sales taxes.
The TIF, says Ware, is key to landing Bass Pro. That's not surprising because the company--working like an NFL franchise--demands free stores in its negotiations, and it's not easy for developers to build those stores without getting public money.
On top of that Bass Pro is such a tough negotiator that it didn't want to pay fixed rent for an area store and wanted to pay only a small percentage of total sales as a tenant.
It also exacts fat penalties from developers who don't deliver. "If you don't deliver on time, you owe them $1 million," said a source who negotiated with Bass Pro.
But Bass Pro's power over communities may be lessened by the marketplace. Competing retailer Cabela's, of Sidney, Neb., is said to be looking at the Ascension site owned by Olinde. In this game of development cat and mouse, though, much is under wraps. "We have no comment on that," said Collier Thornton, whose company represents Olinde.
MUKUL VERMA covers technology and commercial real estate. Reach him at .
THE PLAYERS
JACOB FAKOURI: Landed Bass Pro by hitting it off with company founder.
CAMM MORTON: Baton Rouge was late in the game for Bass Pro.
RALPH OLINDE: Tried to snag Bass Pro for two years, but the company asked for too much money.
BASS PRO SHOPS AT A GLANCE
Headquarters: Springfield, Mo.
Founder: John L. Morris
2002 revenue: $ billion
Employees: 11,400
What it does: The company manufactures boats under the Tracker Marine brand and sells outdoor goods through 20 Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World stores.
Sources Bass Pro Shops, Yahoo!, Hoovers Online
TIME TO CELEBRATE: Denham Springs Mayor Jimmy Durbin, below left, exults at landing Bass Pro, which he says will bring millions of outside sales tax dollars to the area. John Ware, executive director of the Livingston Economic Development Council, right, expects other retailers and maybe even a minor league base ball team to follow the development.
OUTSIDE IN: Calling itself the "grandaddy of all outdoor stores," Bass Pro Shops grabs outdoor enthusiasts with its giant showrooms, including this 300,000 square-foot store in Springfield, Mo. The store has waterfalls, a 40,000-square-foot Tracker Boat showroom, 30,000-gallon aquariums and a fine gun room that offers a $12,000 Beretta S06 with rose and scroll engraving and French walnut stock. The Denham Springs store will be 150,000 square feet and should open in early 2005.
THE DEAL
What: Bass Pro is building a 150,000-square-foot store in Livingston Parish.
Why: The parish is giving the company a store by funneling sales taxes generated from the store to pay off bonds that build the project. The money would usually go to the parish's general budget
Where: The outdoor retailer will take 26 acres of a 75-acre tract off 1-12 and Range Avenue. Developer E. Jacob FaKouri Development will build 200,000 square feet for shadow retailers around the project.
When: Bass Pro and surrounding retailers should open in 2005.
The skinny: Livingston gets victory over competitors in Baton Rouge and Ascension Parish by giving the company a store. Livingston will get millions of visitors from outside the area, and it could shed (or improve) its image of trucks and chew.
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