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Tuesday, Jul. 28, 1998
Houston developer to build shopping center along SPID
H-E-B sells land on Greenwood Drive for $2.5 to $3 million
By GLASTON FORD
Staff WriterThe westward growth of retail shopping and dining along South Padre Island Drive just got another boost.
A Houston developer will build a 130,000-square-foot shopping center at the northeast corner of Greenwood Drive and South Padre Island Drive, the developer said.
David Cottrell Investments Inc. has a contract to purchase 10.56 acres of land from H-E-B Grocery Co. for between $2.5 million to $3 million, including the former Expressions in Wood site, David Cottrell said.
The project would be the city's first new shopping center since Huntington Square, 5325 Saratoga Blvd., opened in phases in 1995 and 1996, said commercial real estate broker Ralph Cobb, of Cobb/Lundquist Realtors.
The shopping center is the latest mark on an area that has seen considerable growth in the past four to five years, said commercial real estate broker Bill Ferguson with Ferguson, Beene & Evans Real Estate, who listed the property. Once, retailers dared not go as far as Greenwood Drive, fearing there wasn't enough activity in the area to support their business. Then the addition of Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, and Tinseltown Movies 16 increased the traffic there, he said.
The center will be the first major addition to the area since Tinseltown opened in early 1996, Cobb said. Other small projects, such as the Golden Corral and Casa Ole restaurants, have opened since then, he said.
Construction on the $10 million project will start in November and should be complete in late summer 1999, said Cottrell, who specializes in retail shopping center development.
The proposed development is smaller than major shopping centers, such as 560,000-square-feet Moore Plaza, but larger than many neighborhood centers like the 51,500-square-feet Hamlin Shopping Center at Staples Street and Weber Road.
The deal, which has been under way for several months, has not closed yet, said commercial real estate broker Burris McRee, of Gulftex Properties, who brokered the deal. McRee did not specify a closing date but said Cottrell had a fairly long period of time to complete the transaction.
The property was pieced together by H-E-B from several smaller parcels about a year and a half ago as a possible site for the store, Ferguson said.
The center likely will include retailers who sell clothing, home furnishings, jewelry and some restaurants, Cottrell said.
Cottrell tends to develop his shopping centers in areas where the residential and apartment markets are growing, he said. The indicators for Corpus Christi are good, he said.
The site includes an existing building, the 35,000 square-foot former Handy Dan hardware store, later Expressions in Wood, Cottrell said. The existing building will be completely remodeled with a new roof, brick facade, lighting, plumbing and electricity.
The additional square footage will be added onto the existing structure, he said. His firm also has plans for free-standing site pads, he said.
Several retailers, most of them new to the market, have expressed an interest in the site, he said, declining to name them.
The shopping center will include two or three anchor tenants, large retailers occupying 30,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet, and room for several smaller tenants.
H-E-B's real estate department acquired the property in at least two transactions as a possible future store site, said Debbie Lindsey-Opel, H-E-B public affairs coordinator.
``There was never a specific plan to put a store there,'' she said. ``It was an opportunity to acquire the property to provide that opportunity (to build a store) in the future.''
In this case, she said, the company decided it was a better move to sell the land.
Staff writer Glaston Ford can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at fordg@scripps.comPost your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web