Responsible Development

Browner pastures
Retail projects spurning farmland for developed areas
Link (JG)

"Property owners Brian and Tim Straley are developing the site by spending about $2.4 million to construct a strip shopping center made up of two multitenant buildings. The plans, unveiled in May, include building on the neighboring gravel parking lot and the properties where three homes now stand.

Construction will likely begin in early spring, David Nugent, a partner in the real estate firm BND Commercial, said last week. BND is the leasing agent for the Shoppes on Broadway and has already signed some deals that Nugent isn’t allowed to announce yet.

The shopping center is one of several local retail projects in progress that call for reusing previously developed property rather than building on former farmland."
[...]
"The commercial real estate developers expect the city’s $120 million Harrison Square project will trigger even more redevelopment.

“The whole downtown market will be” hot, Dickey said. “I think Harrison Square will have a dramatic effect on all downtown and places beyond the area directly downtown.”

The Shoppes on Broadway was being planned before Harrison Square was proposed, Nugent said. Even so, the project would benefit if the downtown becomes more of a draw, he said.

Dickey thinks redevelopment of existing spaces citywide is a trend. Nugent isn’t convinced.

“I don’t know if I can say it’s a trend,” he said. “I know I would love to see it. … We always look for those opportunities. And when we see them, we will act on them.”"