While the Greens at Millerville is moving forward, developer Windy Gladney’s plans for the 53-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Millerville Road and Interstate 12 have changed in the nearly three years since construction began.
Gone are plans for a 320-unit apartment complex, after deals with two different multifamily developers fell through. The first cratered in 2014, the other last year. Gladney declines to discuss what happened with the most recent deal but says it is not a reflection of the project.
“We still feel really good about it,” he says. “The apartment deal didn’t close, but the market is really strong.”
Gladney has since sold the 8.3-acre property to Richards Honda, which had previously acquired 9 acres in the development and is planning to open a new dealership on site in 2018.
Also off the table at the Greens at Millerville are plans for a Buc-ee’s location. The Texas-based rest stop chain was planning to open its first Louisiana location at the Greens but pulled out of the deal last year after the August flood. Gladney says he is negotiating with a developer group that wants to buy the 15-acre Buc-ee’s parcel for commercial use. But he says it’s too soon to say what that use might be and whether the deal will materialize.
Despite the setbacks, several restaurant tenants at the development are scheduled to open in the coming weeks, Gladney says. Zaxby’s is supposed to open by the end of the month. Golden Corral will open in early February, and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers will open in mid-February.
Gladney still has nine available acres that could be developed into apartments, condos or some sort of commercial use, he says.
In an unrelated development, a new residential project Gladney is developing just off Burbank Drive near Siegen Lane goes before the Metro Council on Wednesday for approval. In December, the Planning Commission signed off on the proposed 85-acre project, which will have 102 single-family garden-style homes.
—Stephanie Riegel
