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Editorial
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
01-05-98
MAYBE they should call it the Mirage Mall, so insubstantial are the plans of developers of a proposed mall on formerly city-owned land in Maumee.
Isaac Group Holdings, Inc., the developer, snuck in under the wire of an end-of-year deadline to exercise its option on 430 acres west of the interchange of I-475 and U.S. 24. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, who has a knack of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, once again reacted with much steam but little substance.
He has refused to turn over the deed until guarantees are given by the Isaacs' development partners, General Growth Properties, on the quality of stores to be located there.
That sort of grandstanding and posturing is vintage Carty, and is entirely for show. He will hand over the deed as soon as a court says he must. The fact of the matter is that if there is a deficiency in the option agreement for the land -- as there clearly is -- it is the mayor's fault. It does him little credit to be whining about it now. The city failed to include a provision in the option agreement mandating the construction of an upscale mall.
City council also shares a burden of responsibility. Compliant council members allowed themselves to be persuaded by the developers and G. Ray Medlin, Jr., and the Northwest Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council to vote 12-0 in favor of the deal a couple of years ago.
Those past errors must be recognized, but they do not mitigate the Isaacs' responsibility. Plainly stated, their reputation is on the line with this project. They and General Growth must commit to, and construct, an upscale mall featuring such stores as Saks Fight Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and Bergdorf Goodman.
So far all we have heard from them is silence on the names of stores that would anchor the mall. So let's be clear. If the developers cannot live up to their side of the bargain and construct an upscale mall, return the land to the city so that it can be put to better use. The developers promised good things, so deliver them.
If the upscale mall does not materialize, if the developers arrogantly assert their right to take advantage of a poorly worded option agreement to the detriment of the people of this region, and put up something cheap and tacky, then public bodies and agencies must from that point cease transacting any business with them.
Crudely put, this is a put-up or shut-up time for the Isaacs and General Growth. This area, which has seen stagnant growth because of the terrible twosome of poor leadership and make-a-buck artists, deserves stores with cachet, stores that will keep shopping dollars in northwest Ohio.
If the Isaacs can't produce, let them admit it and return the land. In that event, the worst that has happened is the land was tied up for a while instead of being available for industrial development.
Right now, with no word about tenants and the chances dwindling for an upscale mall sprouting in the fields of western Maumee, that might be the best option of all for the Isaacs.
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