ODESSA, Texas — Work was being done in 2023 to bring Bass Pro Shops to West Texas. While Midland was the planned location for the big-ticket retailer, on Friday it was announced that is no longer the case.
Eight miles west of where it would have been in Midland, Odessa has now landed the big fish that is Bass Pro Shops.
ICA Properties spearheaded the work and came to an agreement with Bass Pro Shops to build the 100,000 square foot destination retail store building. With additional support from the City of Odessa and the Odessa Development Corporation, the expectation is that some time in the spring of 2025 this will become a reality.
In a growing city, retail development has arrived.
“This box store is merely an anchor to what is further coming along," said Odessa Mayor Javier Joven. “[In] 2027, Odessa’s going to be 100 years [old] – this is definitely a big benchmark.”
Bass Pro Shops is set to be located near Cinergy Family Entertainment Center off Highway 191 between Mission Blvd. and Yukon Rd.
“This sends a signal that Odessa has the capabilities to be able to recruit big stores [and] big retailers," Mayor Joven said. "It's going to open up for top-line products for our community, but it signifies a brighter future for Odessa.”
Mayor Joven explained some of the efforts that the city has been making.
“We provided their data of what we had here of our retailers, our spending, our demographics, our age demographics, our socioeconomics, our culture, and we started marketing," Mayor Joven said. "Combine that with the developers and the land availability and the future of what it was going to look like, with the investment of the infrastructure for the ODC (Odessa Development Corporation) – bring in all these combinations – is that we had a marketable plan.”
After shopping that plan around the country, they reeled in a big one.
“When we come at it together with all the entities and the people, there’s nothing that we cannot achieve," Mayor Joven said.
There is excitement for Odessa and surrounding communities.
“We are very excited in Odessa, Texas," Mayor Joven said. "Let me tell you this is an incredible, incredible win – not just for the Odessa-Midland area -- but for the entire West Texas area.”
The City of Midland, until recently, was hard at work coming to an agreement with Bass Pro Shops.
Here is a part of a statement from Midland Mayor Lori Blong on the recent change:
"While we would have preferred the location in Midland, we are pleased to see Bass Pro Shops still coming to our region with their announcement...We also now have the added benefit of freedom to reallocate the capital that had been committed to the Bass Pro Midland project to other priorities for the benefit of our community." - Lori Blong, Midland mayor
To learn more about the Bass Pro Shops project in Odessa, a presentation will be given on it during the Feb. 27 city council meeting.