Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Businesses prefer new plazas to existing buildings, developers say.
THE VINDICATOR
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Construction is nearly complete on the first of three new shopping plazas set to be located in the township.
Developer James Sabatine Jr. of Pelican Park Properties said workers are slated to pave the parking lot of the new 10,000-square-foot plaza at the corner of Evans and Mahoning avenues early this week. A check-cashing business, a new Cingular Wireless store and a new Subway restaurant should open in the plaza by Dec. 1, Sabatine said.
Sabatine also said that he plans to start construction in the spring on a new plaza on the east side of South Raccoon Road just north of New Road. He said the South Raccoon Road plaza will be similar in size to the Mahoning Avenue plaza.
In addition, Michael Camacci, president of Landmark Real Estate, said he hopes to start construction on a new 68,000-square-foot plaza at the southwest corner of Mahoning Avenue and state Route 46 before winter. The plaza will have 56,000 square feet of retail space and 12,000 square feet of office space.
Landmark will seek a conditional-use permit to build the plaza at a Nov. 20 meeting of the township board of zoning appeals. The permit is needed under township zoning regulations because the plaza and its parking lot combined will be larger than 300,000 square feet.
Plans for the Landmark plaza have been on hold while developers talked with "anchor stores," like department stores, about leasing a large section of the plaza. When a deal couldn't be finalized, however, Landmark revised the plaza plans to not include space for an anchor store, Camacci said.
Camacci added that Landmark has talked to several businesses expected to open in the plaza next spring or summer. He won't identify the potential tenants until lease details are worked out.
Fresh, new plazas
Most of the potential tenants, Camacci noted, are only interested in moving into a new plaza. He said tenants feel a new plaza gives them more freedom and space to develop their business.
In the past, some residents have questioned why developers would construct new buildings like plazas when there are several vacant structures that need to be filled in the township. For example, two vacant restaurants and the vacant former Big Lots stand nearly across the street from the proposed location of the new Sabatine plaza on South Raccoon Road.
Sabatine said he asked about buying the Big Lots building only to find that it wasn't for sale. He added that he can build a new plaza for the same cost of purchasing and renovating an existing building to create a plaza.
Both Sabatine and Camacci will be knocking down existing buildings to build their new plazas. Sabatine said he will tear down a vacant bar when he builds the South Raccoon Road plaza.
He also demolished the vacant and dilapidated building that once housed Buttermilk Acres pottery to make room for the plaza at the corner of Mahoning and Evans avenues.
"We didn't have to knock it down, we just had to lean on it," Sabatine joked. "It's been an eyesore for years."
To make room for his new plaza, Camacci will knock down the plaza that houses Landmark Real Estate and Colla's Market.
Traffic patterns
Camacci noted that the new plaza should provide an ideal location for a business looking to attract customers because of the amount of traffic that passes through the Mahoning Avenue-state Route 46 intersection. Landmark traffic studies have shown that 50,000 cars pass through the intersection each day, making it the third-busiest intersection in Mahoning County, he said.
Only the intersection of U.S. Route 224 and South Avenue and the intersection of Route 224 and Market Street, both in Boardman, have more traffic in a day, he said.
Sabatine also noted that the amount of residential growth in Austintown makes the township a good location for businesses looking for customers. The township has led the county in the number of new houses under construction in each of the last nine years.
"Austintown's one of the places to be," Sabatine said.
hill@vindy.com