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Getting attention and interest
LAS VEGAS — On the final day that the Middletown delegation worked the floor at the RECon convention in Las Vegas, officials and others were working to reinforce the message given the day before with handouts of marketing information.
Several of the contacts said they were very impressed with the number of people who traveled to the convention to share the message that there was plenty of opportunity for business who might be interested in coming to Middletown.
At one of the presentations Tuesday, May 20, with representatives from Bravo - Brio restaurants, who are interested in making a site visit in June based on the information that was presented by the delegates.
In addition, representatives from Cambria Suites hotels also expressed interested in having additional discussions with city officials, said Bill Murphy, economic development director.
The show of interest by the city with the size of its delegation made others take notice, including representatives from CBL & Associates, who owns Towne Mall, as well as Paran Management Co. who manages the Middletown Shopping Center.
Alan Lebovitz, CBL’s vice president of asset management, said he was impressed with the amount of interest the city had in the mall and the proposed renovation project to transform it into a lifestyle shopping center.
Lebovitz said there is no timetable in beginning the project and said his company was working on recruiting possible retailers at the RECon convention.
City Manager Judy Gilleland said the city was able to spend some good deal of time talking with CBL about the proposed projects.
She said the city talked about priorities about redeveloping the mall and made it clear that it was a priority project for the city of Middletown. Gilleland said they asked where it fell on CBL’s priority list.
“We were able to discuss possible tenants and future plans for the mall based on contacts made at the convention,” Gilleland said. “They indicated that they would be developing a proposal within the next 30 days. We will be following up with them promptly.”
“The bottom line is that they clearly saw the mall redevelopment was a priority for the city,” Gilleland said.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Middletown
Comments
By Robb
May 21, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this
If Towne Mall could somehow draw the interest of an Old Navy/Steve & Barry’s the mall would again be reputable and have people staying and shopping in Middletown instead of driving to Dayton or Cincinnati.By Mark
May 28, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
More hotels off the Interstate would be helpful for travelers on I-75, the Atrium, and local food businesses. Middletown really needs a 2nd exit off of I-75 at Greentree Road, to lessen the amout of semi trailors goint to Air Products and AK Steel. There isn’t much land available on the Middletown side of the Interstate, but more hotels would be a good starting point.By Ramon
May 29, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
I think we are getting ahead of ourselves here. We are patting council on the back, because a restaurant is INTERESTED in coming to check out a sight. Remember that Bravo’s has a store in Miamisburg and West Chester. Why would they open a store here to pile their stores on top of each other, and then there is nothing else for their clients to do while they are here or to help draw them here. Plus the area is saturated with restaurants now. Applebees, O’Charley’s, Golden Corral, Bob Evans, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, Steak and Shake, Wendy’s, McDonalds, Fazoli’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Gold Star, plus the places in the mall…To use Dave Schiavone’s theory, The City of Middletown already has too many. But as I said earlier, Bravo is only interested, they have not agreed to anything. Who buys the first house they look at?