CASPER, Wyo. — Expansion of the Blackmore Marketplace Shopping Center on Casper’s east side appears likely, based on recent applications submitted to the City of Casper Community Development Office.
Altogether, 160,000 square feet of new commercial building is proposed adjacent to or near the Blackmore Marketplace Shopping Center on vacant property off Newport and Blackmore roads.
Serving as anchor to the shopping center, Kohl’s opened in 2011, marking the first of several new retailers into the Casper market. In addition to Kohl’s, the shopping center at 401 Newport Road is now home to such franchise retailers as Michaels, PetSmart, Ulta Beauty and Marshalls.
TKG Blackmore Marketplace Perm Two has recently submitted two site plan applications to the City of Casper Planning Division. Both applications are signed by Karen Blumenstein, a developer with Flower & Stone of Golden, Colorado. CEPI of Casper is named as the owner’s representative.
Several years ago in the story “Blackmore Marketplace owners bullish on Casper’s retail future,” Oil City News reported that Blumenstein and business partner Kroenke Group had bought the shopping center in 2016 from the McMurry family, who originally developed the areas under Forward Development, a limited liability company.
The purchase included the 140,000 square feet of retail space and operating assets of Blackmore Marketplace, 24 acres of surrounding undeveloped land, and small shopping strips in front of Studio City. Other parcels were included in the area, such as Buffalo Wild Wings and the land behind Marshalls.
At that time, Blumenstein called the land around Blackmore Marketplace “Phase II” and said her company’s relationships with other retailers could mean more of them entering the Casper market in the future. She was not immediately available for comment when this story was published.
A Blackmore Marketplace application dated April 21 proposes 110,000 square feet of retail floor space at 722 Newport. A second application, with a July 7 date, shows a proposed 50,000-square-foot building footprint at 651 Newport.
This site plan drawing shows the 50,000-square-foot single-building footprint by Newport and Blackmore roads.
Another 110,000 square feet in total retail space is part of a proposed seven-building shopping center area. The diagram below shows one building divided into five storefronts and two separate buildings called “mini anchors” or “shop buildings” for tenants on the opposite side of the parking lot.
Craig Collins, City of Casper planner, said American billionaire businessman Stan Kroenke is a developer with the new shopping center.
The real estate and sports mogul with an international portfolio is married to Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke, also a billionaire.
According to Forbes, as of Aug. 30, Stan Kroenke owns some 60 million square feet of real estate, much of it shopping plazas near Walmart stores. He owns the Los Angeles Rams as part of a sports empire that also includes the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and the U.K.’s Arsenal soccer club. He owns more than 1.5 million acres of ranches across the United States and Canada.
Using HomeGoods as an example, here is a prototype storefront for a typical retail store in the proposed future Blackmore Marketplace Shopping Center building. The depiction was provided to the City of Casper by the applicant.
This is a developing story. Oil City News will share further details as they are learned.
