Mr. Anderson

Developer sees Bridegwater village as a focus for families By Eric Schwartzberg Staff Writer FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP — The completion of Bridgewater Falls’ central village area means the shopping center’s parent company is ready to fill the almost 100,000 square feet of available retail space and to bring in family events. Premier Properties, which finished construction of the center’s village area last week, hopes to create an atmosphere where people want to walk, shop, spend time and “make it more of an experience than your normal strip center is,” said Ryan Pennington, a leasing agent for the company. “The way that the village is designed, it’s more pointed to a main street-type feel,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle component to our shopping center.” Premier Properties is looking to stock the 30 to 40 expected storefronts with upscale salons, specialty clothing stores and fast-casual type restaurants, Pennington said. “Restaurants in these types of projects across the country are what really drive the traffic and continue to get people to come back a couple of times a week, sit outside during the warmer months, take in the atmosphere and do some cross-shopping with some other tenants,” he said. The company wants to provide more than just brand-name tenants. “We’d like to definitely get the local merchants to be a part of this project, too,” Pennington said. A weekend-long grand opening celebration tentatively is scheduled for the beginning of October, said Julie Smith, Bridgewater Falls’ marketing manager. Sections of the village area may be cordoned off to accommodate crowds when the center offers farmer’s markets, comedians, concerts, art fairs, holiday celebrations and other fare to shoppers several times a month. “We’re really looking at the center to be very family friendly,” Smith said. With its already strong line-up of big-box anchor stores, the center will attract a sizeable amount of shoppers smaller retailers in the village area can draw from, said David Sheehy, senior vice president for Brandt Retail Group, which worked on securing Target, TJ Maxx and several other big-name Bridgewater Falls tenants. “The site itself is a great site to capture the growing market along the Butler Regional Highway and Fairfield and Liberty townships,” Sheehy said. Bridgewater Falls’ village area already houses a Factory Card Outlet, Books A Million, Mattress Firm, Cingular Wireless, Supercuts and LT Nails. Locations for Cold Stone Creamery, GNC, Pearle Vision and Kirkland’s are expected to open in the coming months. Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5126 or [email protected]. http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/news/stories/2006/05/20/HJN052106BRIDGEWATER.html

Liberty Twp. trustees go slow on home rule BY JENNIFER EDWARDS | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER LIBERTY TWP. - A decision won't be made anytime soon on whether this fast-growing Butler County suburb should adopt a home-rule form of government so it can have more authority to operate on its own. After discussing the issue for several weeks, township trustees agreed late Monday to hold off until they learn more about how it works and how it would affect the community's 33,000 residents. "We want to take a closer look at it and make sure it is something worthwhile and beneficial to the community," Trustee Christine Matacic said. Should the township adopt a home-rule form of government, projects such as roads could happen sooner because Liberty officials would have broader powers to meet specific needs without turning to Butler County for help. That appeals to township leaders because Liberty's population is projected to skyrocket to 86,000 people in the next few decades. Now, county officials oversee road projects in Liberty and dictate when they receive money. Under a home-rule designation, Liberty Township would be able to borrow more money over a longer period of time for roads and other necessities. The township also could get a higher bond rating, which can lower debt costs and combine different debt obligations under one bond issue. Larger bond issues can reduce interest costs. The township would have to hire a law director. Now, it uses the Butler County Prosecutor's Office. Trustees can either vote to adopt home rule or put the issue on the fall ballot. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS01/605170349/1056

The designs that I saw on the Clifton Town mtg website do leave a lot to the imagination (as someone said above) - I think they will also remove the optical shop and Clifton business office (now a vacant storefront) as part of the project. In any event - if it is approved it would be nice to get some type of restaurant use or something that provides outdoor seating - that is something that Ludlow lacks.