Contributed by: filbert Wednesday, September 20 2006 @ 07:12 AM CST
One of the most high-profile construction sites in eastern JacksonCounty is the Wal-Mart Supercenter being built near the intersection ofInterstate 70 and U.S. 40.
The Wal-Mart is on schedule to open in January.
The 195,000-square-foot facility will occupy much of the site of theformer Blue Ridge Mall, torn down last year. It will be the principalanchor of the new Blue Ridge Crossing Shopping Center being developedby MBS Mall Investor-98, LLC.
There will be other retail stores beyond Wal-Mart. In addition, thedeveloper anticipates soon breaking ground on a 22,000-square-footretail building that will sit on the north side of the property alongInterstate 70. Crews will start moving dirt for that project inmid-October.
And, in near-by Raytown, in the Missouri 350 Highway corridor:
The biggest plum would be a new Wal-Mart Supercenter. Aldermen areconsidering the project now and could make some key decisions within amonth.
The move comes as city leaders acknowledge that keeping thecommunity’s current Wal-Mart would be difficult. It sits at 6709 BlueRidge Blvd., a location that “won’t serve them well,” city FinanceDirector Dan Estes said.
“We figured it was advantageous to engage them in building a newstore in Raytown,” Estes continued, referring to the largerSupercenter. “We want to have that tax base for the next 20 to 25years.”
Estes sees the Supercenter, which he says could break ground in 2008, as an economic spark.
“This is the start of more to come. It’s the seed money to have future growth along the corridor.”