Mall growth must take place north to south because virtually all desirable prime property along east-west U.S. 60 has been gobbled, said McKinney, who several years ago formed an investor group that built structures in West Park Village, the mall area's westernmost boundary. So that means that nobody wants to be out past the mall if they are considering coming to Paducah. Kroger nixed a deal to put a huge store across U.S. 60 from West Park because traffic flow diminishes significantly from the mall to Concord, McKinney said. Fortunately, there is ample room for growth north and south of the mall, McKinney said, and the rate of expansion hinges on how fast projects such as the cinema and road improvements take place. We have some rather good commitments, nothing on paper that we can talk about.
Target is among the large chains rumored to be looking at land south and north of the mall.
Although the average daily traffic count drops by 14,000 from the strip mall to the Interstate 24-U.S. 60 interchange, that did not deter Rafferty's, which is building a restaurant on U.S. 60 between Applebee's and Burger King. Many mall area restaurants have opened with record patronage, including Backyard Burgers, which led its chain for several months in 1997 even before James-Sanders Boulevard was completed. Backyard Burgers owner Jeanie Driver said the new cinema was the best possible news for her and others in the Oaks II development. It's going to give businesses like ours a tremendous boost. Although the cinema is expected to be built by November, growth along James-Sanders Boulevard already has taken another spurt.