Defunct Branson mall to become baseball attraction

artists rendering of ballpark
artists rendering of ballpark

A Chicago-based company is turning an abandoned outlet mall in Branson into a baseball tournament facility targeting youth leagues.

Ballparks of America -- Branson is spending an estimated $15 million to turn the vacant Factory Merchants Outlet, also known as the Red Roof Mall, into a youth baseball attraction. The operation will include retail shops, restaurants, a dorm facility and two-third scale fields that replicate some of the sport's most recognized ballparks.

The company is leasing the property from Branson, which owns several large tracts of land on the west side of town on Missouri 76, the city's main drag. The park is expected to open in the summer of 2015.

The ability to use so much of the existing mall in the design plans, along with Branson's reputation as a family-friendly destination, ample hotel rooms at reasonable rates and its centralized location -- a one-day drive for a third of the United States' population -- helped seal the deal, said Hamilton Chang, the company's CEO.

"We think it's a perfect location," Chang said.

The Factory Merchants Outlet closed in 2012. The 32-acre property was leased from Branson by Simon Property Group Inc. It was Branson's first "factory outlet mall" when it opened in the mid-1980s.

Simon Property asked the city to break its lease, which was set to expire in 2021. The city determined that competition from Tanger Outlets mall and others made it unlikely the fading mall could be a success. The city agreed to terminate the lease but took control of the property, including the mall itself. Simon consolidated its Branson operations at the Shoppes at Branson Meadows.

Garrett Anderson, director of economic development for Branson, said the location had been flagged in city studies as a possible location for a sports complex, due to its location next to the White Water park and the available land for expansion.

He said the Ballparks of America project meshes well with visions the city had for the property and surrounding area.

Anderson said sports visitors tend to be good "brand ambassadors" and help spread the word about the city in general as a tourist locale. A 2012 Youth Sports Study the city commissioned showed nearly 90 percent of the city's youth sports visitors during the year were families with children, 53 percent traveled from beyond 100 miles and 96 percent classified their visit to the city as "good" or "excellent."

The report showed 77 percent of sports visitors spent the night in the city, with the average sports visitor spending 3.4 nights. Compared to the city's average family visitor, sports visitors came to Branson more frequently and spent about $44 per person per day, compared to $56 per person per day for the average family visitor.

During their time spent in the city, 66 percent of youth sports visitors did some shopping in the city, according to the study. When asked about other activities, 40 percent said they went to Silver Dollar City, 35 percent participated in outdoor activities and 34 percent took in a show.

Anderson said the city's tourist business is strong. Through August, the city's tourism tax brought in close to $7.5 million, a 6.6 percent increase compared to the same time in 2013. The city attracts more than 8 million visitors a year.

The plan for the Ballparks of America site calls for incorporation of almost all of the mall's structures, so there will be little to no demolition required. The mall parking and courtyard areas will be turned into ballparks and the buildings re-purposed.

When complete, it will feature 100,000 square feet of leasable space. Chang said there is interest from more than 20 possible tenants including a sports grill, a 1950s-style five-and-dime, and a waffle shop.

The Branson ballpark concept is inspired, in part, by Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Florida, Chang said. The park will allow players to see and step onto facsimiles of some of the most historic ball fields around the U.S.

"It'll be a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said.

The Branson attraction will feature scaled-down versions of six historic major league parks -- Tiger Stadium in Detroit; Fenway Park in Boston; Forbes Field in Pittsburgh; Wrigley Field in Chicago; Busch Stadium in St. Louis; and Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. The fields will have synthetic turf and have state of the art lighting.

The team lodging area will feature major league-style locker rooms, private bathrooms and large flat-screen TVs.

Chang said the company has an option to lease an adjacent 20 acres that could be used to add ball fields. Further development of the property could push the total investment to between $25 million to $30 million.

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