Bluebonnet Square gets restaurant tenant

Bluebonnet Square, a 42,000-square-foot shopping center at Bluebonnet Boulevard and Airline Highway, has signed another tenant. China One will open a restaurant in the center, along with CC’s Community Coffee House, Subway and Elgin’s Fine Jewelry, says developer Darren Aschaffenburg. “We’re working with a bunch of other tenants,” he says. The shutdown in lending and the weak retail market, which has caused companies to close stores instead of open locations, has stifled development of Bluebonnet Square. But Aschaffenburg says once the nearby Party Time store opens in the spring, around the same time as the first tenants in Bluebonnet Square, that should attract more retailers. “We should see leasing ramp up once this national recession abates a little bit,” he says. Once the national economy improves and lending picks up, Bluebonnet Square will be well-situated because of its good location and nearby neighborhoods, Aschaffenburg says.—Timothy Boone