THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240422
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
The area's three J.C. Penney Co. stores declined to renew their memberships in the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce after the business organization threw its support behind MacArthur Center.
The J.C. Penney managers aren't necessarily miffed over MacArthur Center, an upscale mall to be built in downtown Norfolk. Instead, they're upset that the city is partly subsidizing the shopping center with public money.
``You can build a shopping center anywhere, even right across the street,'' said Jim Cundiff, manager of the Penney department store in Norfolk's Military Circle Shopping Center. ``I don't have a problem with that. But when they're paying our tax dollars for a mall, I have a major problem with it.''
Cundiff also is president of the Norfolk Federation of Business Districts, a merchant association that hired an attorney to look into possible legal actions against the mall project. The lawyer has said that the subsidies give MacArthur Center an unfair advantage over other shopping areas.
As for the Chamber of Commerce, it happened to side with the new mall project - a choice that is disagreeable to Cundiff and the other J.C. Penney managers at Chesapeake Square Mall and Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.
``It has thrown its full support behind MacArthur Center,'' Cundiff said. ``Therefore, we took the liberty not to be a part of it.''
So, earlier this month, when it was time to renew their memberships and pay their annual dues, the three managers passed. J.C. Penney has been a member of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce for more than 40 years.
The chamber, however, doesn't plan to change its stance on MacArthur Center.
``Our position with MacArthur Center is that any time you're enhancing the economy of Hampton Roads, bringing investment and jobs, it benefits everyone,'' said John A. Hornbeck Jr., the chamber's president and chief executive officer. ``We've got our position and we stand by it.''
City officials essentially said the same thing, saying J.C. Penney's protest will have little or no impact.
But the Penney managers stand by their decision.
After all, when J.C. Penney and other department stores decided to move into South Hampton Roads, they struck deals in which they got few freebies - if any.
That era is long gone.
These days, cities and developers are offering more to entice the nation's big retail chains, industries and service sectors. In their quest to draw desirable business, economic development officials might offer everything from acres of prime real estate to a new road.
``It's the issue of providing incentives to businesses,'' Hornbeck said. ``It's the way of the world today. And it's just not retailers.''
MacArthur Center, which is expected to open in 1998, will cost an estimated $300 million. Developer Taubman Co. will put up $200 million, and the city of Norfolk will pay the remaining $100 million, mostly with loans that are expected to be repaid with parking fees and mall-generated revenues. by CNB