Property owners adapt to changing downtown

Located just north of the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Chestnut Expressway, the 2.91-acre property, owned by San-Spar Properties LLC, is being cleared for redevelopment.

While demolition was not the owner’s first choice, in a rapidly changing downtown, it was the option that made the most business sense, said DeNief, owner/broker of Rogersville-based Rick DeNief Real Estate Co.

The property was originally home to Foremost Dairy, which operated in a complex of buildings comprising 63,000 square feet, most of it warehouse, DeNief said.

After the dairy ceased operation, the site became a warehouse for C&B Transfer and Storage. Several years ago, C&B purchased a larger facility to consolidate two warehouse operations, leaving the downtown site idle.

Although DeNief had many people in to look at the property, times had changed while the property hadn’t.

“Essentially, you had a 100-year-old set of buildings there that just weren’t up to today’s standards in what you need to see in warehousing,” he said. “It became obvious that there would be a higher, better use.”

Functionally obsolete for warehousing, the property also was unsuitable for loft development, although some loft developers did consider it. DeNief said they rejected it because most of the space was open, single-story warehouse with only the office structure having a second floor. After crunching the numbers, DeNief determined that the property was more valuable without the buildings.

With some reluctance, San-Spar – whose registered organizers are Jim Sanders and Jerry Sparks – elected to raze the structures, clear the lot and make way for new development, DeNief said. He hopes the site will be buildable in the next 30 days, but added that demolition has been a long, slow process.

With steel-reinforced concrete foundations several feet thick, “they built it to last,” he said. The work is being completed by David Rensch Demolition.

In its future incarnation, the former office/warehouse site, which is listed at $949,900, will likely become office/retail space.

Retail and office have “been the primary interest of the people that we speak with. It’s only about a block away from City Hall and the courthouse, so I really think that’s the direction that we’re going with it,” DeNief said, noting that as the clearing work continues, more interest is being shown in the property.

Rare commodity

Meanwhile, Mike Fusek, a senior adviser with Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co., also is offering a rare downtown commodity: a building with its own parking lot.

The Darrell Love Sertoma Building at 318 S. Campbell Ave. offers 7,920 square feet of space and a 49-space parking lot directly across the street. Fusek said he’s getting more interest in the parking lot than in the building itself, but the two are offered only as a package at a list price of $797,000.

Rusty Worley, executive director of the Urban Districts Alliance, said that section of Campbell Avenue is establishing an identity as a retail corridor. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sertoma building become a retail location.

Fusek, however, said it could take some time.

“I think people are waiting to see what happens when College Station is up and the theater is going,” he said.

College Station is expected to open this fall, and Worley noted that Hollywood Theaters is planning a slate of activities for the debut of its 14-screen College Station multiplex.

Looking ahead

Commercial real estate sales, leasing and development activity is on the rise throughout downtown, according to Worley.

Among the recent developments on the retail front, Envy, a boutique, is preparing to open at 325 E. Walnut St. and Ridge Runner Sports opened the doors Sept. 5 on its downtown location at 431 S. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 108, in Wilhoit Plaza.

And while retail is increasing, demand for loft apartments continues to be strong.

“I think part of it is we have a concentration of employment base that’s here in center city,” Worley said. “People are wanting to move closer to where they work or go to school, and we’re very, very convenient for them.”

Also, with home financing now harder to obtain, more people are renting for longer than they might have two or three years ago, he added.

Carlson-Gardner’s new lofts at the Obermann Building on Boonville Avenue, developer Matt Miller’s 623 Condos on Walnut Street and Craig Wagoner’s Lofts at Jordan Creek at Chestnut Expressway and National Avenue are the most visible residential developments on tap at the moment, but Worley noted that architectural work on the Heer’s building is expected to begin this fall and construction on commercial and residential space should start in the spring.[[In-content Ad]]