According to the Ames Tribune, there is a document Bucky Wolford doesn’t want you to read. What is this document? It’s the developer’s pre-rezoning agreement being negotiated between Wolford Development and the city. Perhaps Mr. Wolford is nervous because the document reveals just how small the “lifestyle center” could end up being.

Let’s review what we have been told about the size of the “lifestyle center.”

In 2002 initial reports about the mall’s size were inconsistent. Some said the mall would be 750,000 square feet; others said 700,000.

In April of that year, Wolford said, “The existing mall you have now is one of the better in the area. The big problem is the department stores are just not large enough.” He also talked about his plans to build four anchor stores and a 700,000 square foot mall. So even the early publicity on the mall’s size was uneven.

In 2003 Wolford provided the city with a marketing study that presumed a mall of 707,878 square feet with four anchor stores, occupying 352,000 square feet.

Then at a City Council meeting in November 2004, a Wolford representative admitted that the company had dropped its plans for an enclosed mall in favor of a smaller, open-air “lifestyle center” of 450,000 to 550,000 square feet. A few weeks after that — in response to a negative reaction from the public — Wolford changed again and began claiming the “lifestyle center” would be 600,000 square feet.

In 2005, for the first time we finally get to see what Wolford Development is actually willing to commit to in a legally enforceable document. What is it he doesn’t want you to see?

In the document being negotiated, Wolford is now willing to commit to eventually build 498,000 square feet with only two anchor stores, totaling 160,000 square feet. That’s quite a drop from 700,000 with four anchor stores totaling 352,000 square feet.

But even more interesting is the fact that, as the document is currently drafted, Wolford could obtain building permits after securing retailers for only 329,000 square feet. By comparison, North Grand is 350,000 square feet, of which 181,800 is in anchor stores.

So it is very possible that if the City Council grants Wolford the rezoning he wants, Ames could actually end up with a 329,000 square-foot open-air “lifestyle center” with only two anchors, compared to North Grand, an enclosed mall of 350,000 square feet with three anchors.

Does anyone actually want less shopping in Ames?

Sue Ravenscroft

Professor

Accounting