East Texas Business

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

A new developer is poised to bring “power” to Cumberland Park.

The Seitz Group of Dallas, led by developer Eric Seitz, is purchasing 11 acres of the proposed mixed-use area to develop a power center with “numerous big-box retailers and junior anchors,” said Bob Garrett, president of Broadway South Development LC, the seller.

The area for the proposed power center is south of the new Academy Sports & Outdoors store site and north of Gander Mountain. Garrett said the 11 acres is for a first phase of development, and the Seitz Group has the option to purchase 50 additional acres for future development.

Clay Mote, a partner in Venture Commercial Real Estate LLC, said Seitz is calling his portion “Broadway Loop Crossing.”

Mote is the broker for Broadway South Development LC and Seitz. In essence, Venture Commercial Real Estate is the vehicle by which the land is being sold and the future shopping center is being leased to retailers.

Terms of the land sale are undisclosed.

Although no tenants have been finalized for the site, Mote said, negotiations are under way for nearly 200,000 square feet of junior anchor retailers, or tenants of more than 20,000 square feet. About 325,000 square feet of junior anchor space will be available, and there are 10 pad sites for sit-down restaurants, fast food restaurants and other retail.

Although the names of potential retailers are confidential, Mote said one is a large fashion anchor interested in a space of approximately 80,000 square feet.

“We are talking to national retailers,” Mote said.

Most of the stores would probably open at the same time, he said, and this could occur in the first quarter of 2010. Investment will probably be in the neighborhood of $50 million.

Efforts to reach Seitz last week were unsuccessful.

Mote said Seitz is a well-known developer throughout the South, and especially in Texas, with a reputation of spurring impressive retail development in smaller markets. He has developed large power centers in Lufkin and Abilene and is redeveloping an old mall in Amarillo.

“Eric is considered kind of the premier secondary shopping center developer in the state,” Mote said.

Early last year, the Simon Property Group Inc. had a contract on about 250 acres in Cumberland Park, but later did not follow through to closure.

Garrett said Simon had indicated it needed more time with the contract, but at the same time his group realized that it had the opportunity to move forward with selling land for the development and construction of Academy Sports & Outdoors. It opted to move forward with the sale to Academy and not to renew the contract with Simon.

Academy is being constructed on land that was part of the property Simon had considered buying, he said.

Although tracts in Cumberland Park might be sold in smaller portions in comparison to the large percentage that Simon had considered purchasing, Garrett said his group has a development plan, which includes restrictions with which any party that buys or leases land must comply.

He said Broadway South Development works with other development groups, such as the Seitz Group, that have expertise in certain types of retail, to pull together the aspects of the previously proposed mixed-use community.

“We’ve not changed at all our direction from the beginning,” Garrett said. “It’s just a matter who is taking what piece of the overall program to work on.”

Although Seitz is developing a smaller portion of land than Simon had expressed interest in buying, he is “doing a piece of what Simon’s overall concept was,” Garrett said.

“It’s not as big a deal as the Simon deal potentially could have been, but we continue to work on all the various elements,” he said. “We have seen the slowdown in the economy and in commercial activity in general, but we continue to have strong interest in our site, so we feel like we’re in a really good position to do that.”

Mote said Tyler is a growing area, and this center will solidify the fact that Tyler is the shopping destination for East Texas.

“I can tell you that the national retailers that I’ve toured with — and we’ve looked at the different towns, and you look at the trade area … and what Tyler has going for it — if you’re going to do East Texas, you do Tyler,” Mote said.

The city has a “great education level, great income levels,” and in some directions it pulls in shoppers from 100 miles, he said. Mote added retailers are beginning to learn how Loop 49 will tie the south end of the city to Interstate 20, and how it will affect driving habits and shopping habits in Smith County.

“When retailers really kind of sink their teeth in and go, ‘Wow, Broadway and the new loop, Loop 49, will be Main and Main,’ and once you look at all the information from (the Texas Department of Transportation) and you look at aerials, you look at housing growth and population growth and incomes, it becomes very clear … that, long term, this is the future Main-and-Main intersection,” he said.

Last week, crews continued their construction on the Academy store. They were also performing some cosmetic work, including building a sign that members of the work crew said will resemble a house, complete with a roof and windows, much like the sign at the Gander Mountain area of Cumberland Park.

Garrett said Broadway South Development continues to own the acreage on which Gander Mountain, Austin Bank and Citizens National Bank are located.

GOING UP: Crews continue to work on the Academy Sports & Outdoors, 8668 S. Broadway Ave., last week. The 86,664-square-foot building represents a construction investment of about $3.8 million, according to Tyler building permits. A company official previously said Academy hoped to have the store ready to open in the fall.
(Staff Photo By Greg Junek)