'There's still an opportunity': Glacier Mall developer sticks with project

The recent surge in retail construction near Kalispell hasn't come as a surprise

to Bucky Wolford.

The recent surge in retail construction near Kalispell hasn't come as a surprise to Bucky Wolford.

And while these other projects may have attracted stores he hoped to capture for his Glacier Mall proposal, the Tennessee developer says there's still an opportunity for him here.

Wolford was way ahead of the competition five years ago, when he first proposed building a major shopping mall and commercial complex in Evergreen.

There was no Home Depot or Target here at the time, no Lowe's Home Improvement, or Borders Books and Music, or Petco.

Given this lack of national chain stores and the Flathead's burgeoning population, Wolford felt the valley was primed for a retail explosion.

Recent events seem to have proven him right - even as a spate of lawsuits prevent him from capitalizing on that vision.

"Whatever people think of me, if they go back and assess what happened, at least they'll see I told the truth. I didn't misrepresent anything," said Wolford during a telephone interview from his Chattanooga, Tenn., office.

Wolford, who's spent his entire career developing retail projects, first publicly discussed building Glacier Mall in January 2000.

The fully enclosed shopping center, as proposed, would have four major anchor stores and more than 675,000 square feet of retail space. It would be surrounded by additional "big box" stores, restaurants and stand-alone commercial pads - roughly a million square feet all together.

Since then, more than 1.5 million square feet of retail space has been proposed near the intersection of U.S. 93 and West Reserve Drive.

About a third of that space has already been built. The remainder - including about 500,000 square feet in the recently approved Hutton Ranch Plaza theater and entertainment complex between Target and Flathead Valley Community College - is expected to be completed in the coming months and years.

When Glacier Mall was first proposed, not one of these other projects were even on the drawing board.

"What's taken place supports what I've said all along," Wolford maintained.

Little good it's done him, though. While one project after another breaks ground, one lawsuit after another has stymied Glacier Mall.

First there were lawsuits between Kalispell and Flathead County regarding the Evergreen site, and between the county and a group of downtown business owners who felt Wolford's project would hurt their investments.

Wolford then relocated his proposal to 476 acres near the U.S. 93/West Reserve intersection, north of Semitool.

After the county commissioners approved a growth policy amendment and zone change for that site, opponents then filed two more lawsuits.

District Court Judge Steward Stadler dismissed both complaints, saying the opponents failed to make their case.

Nevertheless, both lawsuits have been appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.

One has languished there for more than a year. Final briefs were just filed in the second lawsuit, but there's no telling when the justices will get around to issuing a ruling in either case.

The lawsuits have stalled Glacier Mall for so long, it's even given WestCoast Hospitality Corp. an opportunity to move forward with its long-promised expansion of Kalispell Center Mall.

"I would have more respect for my opponents if they fought these other [U.S. 93] projects tooth and nail, like they've fought mine," Wolford said. "It amazes me that, at the same intersection, there's been more than a million square feet of retail proposed, with no outcry whatsoever.

"It seems to me these lawsuits are nothing but a delay tactic. I give the opponents credit - it's been effective - but it hasn't stopped me from doing my project. It's taken a few tenants I would have liked to have had, but it doesn't change the fact that people like Herberger's and Dillards and the specialty retailers that go with them. There's still an opportunity for me."

In December 2003 - at a time when the two most-recent lawsuits were still in district court - Dillards Inc. and Saks Inc., the parent company of Herberger's, both publicly committed to building anchor stores in Glacier Mall.

Dillards said it would open a 98,000-square-foot store, while Herberger's would have an 80,000-square-foot facility - up from the 54,000 square feet it now has in Kalispell Center Mall. Should they want to, both retailers would have the option to expand to 130,000 square feet.

"I'm going to stick with my project because Herberger's and Dillards have stuck with me," Wolford said. "For me to abandon them now would be improper. I'm going to see this through, hopefully to a positive outcome."

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com