"I think it's very favorable," said Ed Willis, general manager at the Bentley Mall in Fairbanks.

"Just from talking to other business owners, and the way things have been going at the mall, things have been going real strong."

"We have a lot going on in Fairbanks," Willis said. "We just finished one of our busiest construction seasons, and we may have a record season coming up. We have a lot of restaurants looking in Fairbanks."

"We had a great year, no question," Willis said.

New tenants at the Bentley included Pacific Sunwear and Journey's, a shoe store. And Foot Locker got a nice makeover with a remodel.

"Right now, we only have one vacancy in the mall, and it's an out-building," Willis said. "Most of our tenants have renewed their leases and we figure we're going to be stable."

Wal-Mart coming

The first Wal-Mart in Fairbanks is slated to open this spring, and Willis is jazzed.

"That's a pretty big deal for Fairbanks," Willis said. "We lost K-Mart so they'll replace that."

The Wal-Mart will be located at the Johansen Expressway and the Old Steese Highway.

"They've got a nice location," Willis said. "It's real accessible. The traffic flow should be great for them."

Business should be brisk at Wal-Mart, Willis predicts, with the Stryker Brigade stationed at Fort Wainwright.

"Wal-Mart has national recognition and the military knows it," Willis said. "They're going to have a ready-made group of people that are used to shopping them. The military has been very stable and very good for the economy here."

Willis thinks that the Wal-Mart business is "going to change the retail flow of traffic in this town, from the west to northeast corner of town."

The ripple effect spilling over from Wal-Mart could be substantial throughout Fairbanks.

Boston Pizza has its foundation in place across the street from Wal-Mart, and Fred Meyer is doing a feasibility study to build a 180,000 square-foot store, Willis said.

Lowe's and Barnes & Noble also have looked at property in town, Willis said.

"A large number of businesses in Fairbanks are waiting to see what affect Wal-Mart will have on them," he said.

Arby's for Burger King?

The two Fairbanks Burger King stores have closed, but Arby's might be preparing to step into their place.

"It's real preliminary at this point, but it's a possibility," said Mike Navarre, president of Zan Inc., the Arby's Alaska franchisee.

"We've been sort of eyeing Fairbanks for a couple years now," Navarre said.

There are 10 Arby's in Alaska.

"Fairbanks has a lot of things going for it, including the central hub area for Interior Alaska, and a lot of mining and tourism," Navarre said.

Like Willis, Navarre said the impact of military and federal spending is significant for Fairbanks.

"It's a big deal in Alaska, and certainly in Fairbanks," Navarre said. "Both the people and the dollars that are injected into the economy, and construction dollars for projects on the base and things like that - the Ted Stevens factor."

In addition to Arby's, there may be openings for other eateries down the road. Fairbanks does not yet have an Applebees, Outback Steakhouse or Chilis.

Hot property

Cliff Burglin is co-trustee for the Bentley Trust, an 850-acre parcel of prime development property in northwest Fairbanks.

"The brokers say it is the hottest property in the state," Burglin said. "The trust has brought a billion and half dollars in private money into the city."

About 400 acres remain to be developed out of that original 850 - and the asking price is about $130,000 an acre, Burglin said.

Helping to brighten the Fairbanks economic outlook are gold mines at Kinross, about 15 miles away, and Pogo, about 80 miles east.

"Fairbanks will be the main area to provide services for it," Burglin said of the Pogo mine.

He also noted that First National Bank Alaska will build a new branch bank in the spring.

Building boom

Steve Shuttleworth, head of the building department for the City of Fairbanks, has great expectations for 2004.

"It will be an absolutely monstrous year for the City of Fairbanks," Shuttleworth said.

"We're going to see a lot of commercial development. I've already got $30-40 million worth of private and public sector work in my office, and it's only January. There's a lot of solid commitment for construction. We're going to see a profound amount of commercial construction, for sure."

In 2003 there was $71.7 million worth of construction work in Fairbanks, Shuttleworth said.

The record was set back in 1985, at $80.5 million.

That record may be in jeopardy.

"All indications are that we are going to exceed that amount," Shuttleworth said.

Reasons for the building boom include low interest rates, an improved national and global economy, the impact of military and federal spending, and the opening of national stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot, he said.

"Those four things are all plusses and this city is attached to those elements," Shuttleworth said.

About half of the new construction in 2004 may unfold on the Bentley trust property, he said.