The property on South Main Street which used to hold a Kmart and Dollar General was purchased recently by Chase Properties Ltd. and will furnish new stores. The new shopping plaza slated to be running by this fall and completed by Christmas will bring a much needed facelift to the abandoned property.
Sue Clark, executive director of the Bowling Green Community Development Foundation, spearheaded the attempt to sell the property.
“We are very excited about it. I’ve spent the last two years trying to market that property so that someone would purchase it or lease it. We’re very happy that someone has finally purchased it,” Clark said.
Clark kept trying to bring attention to the property so that someone would buy it. Clark speculates that Wal-Mart’s decision to upgrade to a Super Wal-Mart sparked the sale.
“The increased activity in the area because of the Super Wal-Mart, their theory is it will bring people into the entire area,” Clark said.
For the community, the project will mean an increase in retail jobs and investment, and an increase collected sales tax.
For the first two years the property was vacant the owners attempted to bring other retailers in to lease it but didn’t really want to sell it. According to Clark potential leasees wanted to wait and see what Wal-Mart was going to do. There was always the risk that the store would pick up and move to the other side of town like others store’s have in Fremont and Napoleon.
“I feel very strongly that this will be a plus for that end of town and for the entire community it can only be a good thing because we’re not going to have an empty building, we’re not going to have to tear down a building and we’re not taking up more undeveloped land and taking it up for retail,” Clark said.
Chase Properties Ltd., the company that bought the property, plans to renovate the property this week. There will be a new roof, storefront and parking lot.
Dave Palchesko, vice president of acquisitions and development, is excited about the new tenants coming into the city and what it would mean for the community. Palchesko hopes to remodel the area and turn it into an asset for Bowling Green.
“I think it will help the community in supplying additional shopping opportunities in town. It’s not like we’re taking any tenants away from downtown or anything. We are bringing in new tenants to the Bowling Green market and it will create the draw of customers from a wider radius than Bowling Green and bring more dollars to the area,” Palchesko said.
Palchesko sees the Wal-Mart as a way to draw customers from outlying areas. The stores will be complement Wal-Mart and offer goods and services that it doesn’t.
Palchesko is looking to open many stores this fall. He hopes to be finished by Christmas.
