Congratulations to our Summer Activities people who scheduled John McGuire as a guest speaker for us this past Friday. John is a private citizen (living in Robson) who regularly attends City Council sessions and is very up-to-date about economic and community development. He first presented new businesses that are or "will be" nearby to Palm Creek.
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| Photo by Barb Poole |
Texas Roadhouse is already here and we LOVE it!
Empire will definitely be a new neighbor as it is coming in directly across from Texas Roadhouse and LA Fitness on the corner lot on the SOUTH side of the road next to Segal Suites. This will be a "build to rent" complex which is just like single family apartment rentals. Empire now owns the land but probably won't be able to "turn dirt" until 6 to 12 months due to supply/demand on materials. These build to rent complexes are the new upcoming trend for family housing with at least three of these communities already approved. (I didn't get a number of how many buildings will be constructed at this corner.)
A new regular rental apartment complex has been approved and ready for construction behind the new QT gas station. Site will be called Solace.
Sun Life Medical has purchased the SW corner of Henness and Florence. Henness Road will continue south of Florence Blvd in near future all the way to Selma Highway and is already in the process of being platted and zoned. The new Sun Life building will be 10-20 acres for a new training facility. They have received a federal grant for training due to a lack of trained medical personnel.
A new Hampton Inn site has been purchased and approved on the north side of Florence near the Circle K and Clean Freak car wash. It is scheduled to have 150 rooms.
A five story Marriott hotel is scheduled in the Promenade Mall area in front of Pet Smart.
An RV storage facility has been approved for construction near the U-Haul lot and Border Patrol. RVers never seem to have enough storage area for their rigs. (John didn't specify if this was north or south of the U-Haul site.)
What about the old Sam's Club building?? It is owned by Walmart and they have a very restrictive contract over who can purchase that site and property. Whoever moves in there can NOT compete with sales of anything sold at Walmart. So far Walmart doesn't sell cars so the site is reserved for an Auto Plex with at least 4 dealers wanting to move to that location.
The Golden Corral has been sold to a group of eye doctors and will probably become some sort of medical office facility.
The old LA Fitness or Esporta building? No news as of yet. This will be a difficult building to sell and all options have been discussed. It would need major renovations because of the indoor pool and basketball court so it is not easy to convert. It's not big enough for a stadium and it won't be a city building because it is located on retail property which is very expensive.
Phoenix Mart: It started in 2009 and was intended to be a giant "swap meet" type of facility with 3000 10 x 10 booths for vendors to display their wares and conduct a giant trade show. The middle area was to be 200,000 sq ft meeting /convention center. Surrounding area was to be hotels, restaurants, warehouses, etc. Two facilities of this nature successfully operate in China and Dubai but unfortunately the Phoenix Mart collapsed due to financing. They do still own the building. Google "Phoenix Mart" for a full detailed history if you are interested.
The old City Mall on Florence Blvd where previous Kmart was located: From the end, Kmart up to the Dollar store has been purchased by U-Haul. U-Haul has a program to repurpose old sites and convert to useable areas. They are planning to create more storage units and spruce up the area. They own the building, but plans are still in process.
Aldis: The new Aldis store will be west of Denny's on the south side of East Florence Blvd next to Whataburger. The store will be ~20,000 sq ft with 95 parking spots.
A new Monastery? Yes. Out on Highway 10 toward Val Vista. John didn't give exact location. Owned by a group of mixed Greek Orthodox nuns and priests. It was approved several years ago but is just starting details now.
Lastly, John gave some details about the upcoming November voting ballots. He maintains a Facebook page where you can read his comments and join discussions on the various topics.
You can go to his Facebook discussion page but must first apply for admission.
