WOW a gas station!!! I am shocked you would even concider that. The best tenant for a small center like your’s would be one that pulls in many cars per day and is not to large. Like when you go to the grocery store. Lots of people walking into the Jewel but not so many walking half a block to the shops on the sides of it. But put a White Hen in the middle and people will walk to the gyro place two doors down or the video store ect when they jump out for their frozen coke. Once your permited and have the tenants in place drop me a line and I will go over conduit options for you.
Just a note on the gas station thing. In the chicago burbs not to far from Arlington Race Track there was an auto dealer. Had been there for three generations. Recently they ripped it down and were going to build something new there. Oh but if you drive by today there is a fence around the property which will remain there for many many generations in the future. Three little letters EPA!!
I own five acres of comercial vacant land which includes the hard corner. I have been trying to sell 2 acres on the corner to a company that would provide a strong anchor for the remaining 3 acres that I would like to develop.
What types of companies or businesses should I seek for the corner and is my gameplan for the entire property a good one?
It is a fast developing area that currently has around 9,000 cars a day traffic count and many new subdivisions being built all around the property.
Don’s ideas below on tenant mix are excellent. A C-Store on the corner is a great traffic draw. Drugstores also love hard corners, and use about 1.5 acres. They don’t like to be first though… they like to follow other development (grocery, discount, restaurant, etc.) that has already occurred in the area. On the other 3-3.5 acres you could probably get about 30,000-35,000 sf of space? Check the zoning ordinance for maximum density.
Critically important will be the population numbers within a three mile radius. Get some demographics for your specific site. You can buy a report for a couple of hundred bucks, and if the numbers are there it is the best selling tool you’ll have. There are a number of firms that sell the info… Claritas.com, Demographicsnow.com… loads of others, some free, but I usually opt for the paid report because it’s quicker, more accurate and site specific. General County or Town census numbers are good to also have, and most planning or economic development departments have those numbers free for the asking. But you’ll still need the site specific report as well.
And I also question whether the low traffic count would draw pre-committed tenants. Remember, we don’t make markets, we follow them. Sounds like you may be a bit early.
If not, and the pop numbers are good, then you’ll need to develop a concept drawing of how the site will develop. You can get an engineer to do a simple takeoff to show ingress, egress and maximum building footprints for $500 to $1000. Tell them you want to max out the site, that’s the way to make small sites work. That drawing will get conversation with potential tenants started, and then as interest builds you can go further in doing architectural plans. If you get a contract on the corner, then you can move forward with the other space. I’d do a design/build with a good general contractor. With tenants, a plan, and a contract bid price, you can then shop for funding. A construction loan will cover 100% of hard costs, and may even retire any residual debt as long as there is some (say 10%) equity left.
7-11’s, White Hen Pantry, Blockbuster Video,31 flavors, Pizza Chain all have good traffic pull for your center. Free standing burger king ect are good for the chain but dont have much draw for the remaining tenants.
My dream center would have a White Hen Pantry, Krispy Kream, Blockbuster & a pizza chain that is hot for the area. In fill the center with state farm insurance and a cell phone guy. Your traffic count seems low to me but then again I am from the chicago area and here 50,000 to 75,000 is the norm. Good luck with your project
Here in Santiago, Chile we are developping the first three neighborhood strip shopping centers in an overmalled environement.
What do you think about lifesytle centers?
White Hen is doing franchises (with a not very attractive deal in my opinion), so you have to be very careful of who the leasee is. Also they are not in TX, so a comparable would have to be found for Michael as a C-store draw.
I like your mix though. Add Dollar Tree and Sally Beauty as CTL tenants, and local inlines of a tanning parlor and beauty shop, and you’ve got the makings of a neighborhood downtown!
Thanks Don. Which of the tenants you mentioned would be the best anchor as far as drawing the remaining tenants? Is a gas station a good anchor?
The property is in San Antonio which is why the count is so low, but I think in 2-3 years the count could get up to at least 15,000. I probably could not get a major national tenant but maybe one with some known reputation. What do you think?
Re: Developing a strip shopping center - Posted by ray@lcorn
Posted by ray@lcorn on August 14, 2003 at 20:23:27:
Oscar,
There is a great article giving pros and cons of lifestyle center development on National Real Estate Investor Online. It’s titled “Still Crazy for Lifestyle Centers”, and is in the July 1 issue. The direct URL is http://nreionline.com/ar/real_estate_crazy_lifestyle_centers/index.htm
I’m not sure how the demographic requirements will translate to Chili, but would think the principles would hold true.