By CONNIE TORRES, ctorres@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8263
San Angelo is building a thriving retail community – right before the community’s eyes.
From a Wal-Mart on the northside to new shopping centers in the southwest, commercial real estate growth continues in San Angelo – and at just the right speed, said Steve Eustis, a local commercial and investment real estate broker.
”At one time, we had a big spurt there with Home Depot and Circuit City all being built close together,” Eustis said. ”I don’t think you will see things at that speed, but I think San Angelo will continue to do good.”
C-J Stone Construction of Somerville is building a McAlister’s Deli at 4525 Sherwood Way, near the Cinemark Theater, and an adjoining shopping center, both of which are due to open in mid-August. Ed Motley, the contractor’s project manager, said the two buildings that make up the shopping center have about 12 lease spaces that are being marketed for retail stores.
In Southwest San Angelo, Western Building and Development, a construction company from Las Cruces, N.M., is working on a shopping center at 5769 Sherwood Way, near the new Sam’s Club warehouse store. The 12,000-square-foot building has seven lease spaces available and could fill with retail stores and restaurants by the fall, said Jim Gissler of Saint Ives Inc., a Dallas-based office of real estate managers and agents.
The area near the wholesale warehouse has also attracted The Bank and Trust in San Angelo, which is building a branch near the Sam’s Club. The branch is expected to open next summer. The company’s other bank at 5106 Knickerbocker Road will remain open after the branch’s completion.
”We love the location,” bank president Rey Montgomery said of the Sherwood Way location. ”We feel that there’s a lot of traffic out there.”
This month, fitness fans could finally have access to Gold’s Gym. The facility at 4110 Sunset Drive was expected to open in April, but delays with the contractor set back work on the building, area manager Liz Binder said.
Dunn’s Construction of Lufkin has submitted an application for a building permit for clothing store rue 21, said Charlie Kemp, the city’s assistant building official. The chain store, which offers clothing and accessories for teens, is looking to build at 4161 Sunset Drive.
Developers for Furniture Row, a Denver-based strip mall of home furnishing stores, purchased 28 acres in the 4500 block of Houston Harte Expressway. The chain of furniture stores will include Sofa Mart, Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions and Denver Mattress. The strip mall is set to open in late August.
Family Power Sports, which sells watercrafts and all-terrain vehicles, will close its North Bell Street location to move into its new and bigger building at 4160 Houston Harte Expressway. General manager Wade Hoak said the 24,000-square-foot facility, which is twice the size of the building on Bell Street, is to accommodate the business’ growth.
The new facility is expected to open in mid-August or early September.
Activity on the city’s north side includes the development of a Wal-Mart Supercenter store. The store is set to open in late September or October.
Some believe that’s only the beginning of more northside growth.
”That’s going to be a big draw in that area,” said Pat Malloy, the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for economic affairs. ”I think we’ll see some buildings fill up.”
In December, the city approved a 20-acre shopping center extending from Martin Luther King Drive to North Bryant Boulevard and West 29th to West 26th streets.
Permits for work on the center have not yet been filed, said Kemp. She said she has no details on what businesses will come to that area.
On the market
While new developments are under way, buildings that once showed potential for growth remain overlooked. Some business officials believe a few vacant buildings could still have new tenants again, even though most have been empty for at least a decade. The following list includes buildings that once prospered – and could again.
-The former Kmart building at 3993 Loop 306 has been on the market since closing in 2002 during a restructuring that shut down the retailer’s least profitable stores.
Pat Malloy, the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for economic affairs, said the building has the potential to reopen because it is in a high-traffic area and has good visibility. He said an offer to purchase the building was made last year to divide the 99,296-square-foot facility into three parts, but the deal fell through. Malloy said he did not have details on who made the offer to buy the building.
-Another former Kmart building at 2020 N. Bryant Blvd. is still available. It has been closed about 15 years. Despite being maintained, the building hasn’t yielded any offers, said David Elkoulby of American Equity, a New York real estate manager that cares for the building.
With a new Wal-Mart Supercenter being built at 29th Street, nine blocks south of the former Kmart, Malloy said the building might not be empty for long.
Both former Kmarts are listed on national marketing
Web sites.
-Toys ”R” Us at 4238 Sunset Drive has been on the market since closing in early April. Dub Johnson, a local real estate agent who is marketing the building, said the building could sell or lease quickly because it’s in a growing area.
-The Taylor Publishing building at the San Angelo Business and Industrial Center, off Loop 306 near U.S. Highway 67 on the city’s eastern edge, is available to lease. The 56,000-square-foot facility was used to make yearbooks. It will close in mid-July.
Local real estate broker James Bunyard said the building’s size makes it great for businesses.
”It’s just on the wrong side of town,” he said. ”San Angelo develops in the southwest.”
-Although the operation is not closing, employees at the Concho Valley Council of Governments, 5002 Knickerbocker Road, will be moving into the Southland Park of Angelo building later this month. The council, a voluntary organization of local governments, will lease 27,000 square feet of the building at 2800 Loop 306. Food Basket IGA, a grocery store chain, is using about 25,000 square feet of the building for storage.
Tracy Ogle, the council’s executive administrative assistant, said the move into the larger building is to accommodate the council’s growth in recent years.
The R.G. Barry manufacturing company was the tenant of the Southland Park building until 2012. The company still manufactures slippers at 3301 Barry Ave.
