New details are emerging about plans for the space at the rear of the Esplanade Mall, where work crews have been busy for months demolishing a portion of the building and clearing ground. According to commercial broker Jonathan Walker of Maestri-Murrell, the space will house a new retail storefront measuring about 14,600 square feet, as well as 15,000 square feet of additional parking. The entire space previously held an office for a Chase Bank service center.
“There will be about 14,000 square feet of new retail space that will front the interstate, and it will be ready in about four to six months,” Walker says. “They tore down half of the old bank building and are remodeling the existing structure. The rest of the space will be used for parking.”
The 100,000-square-foot shopping center fronts on Corporate Boulevard and houses such long-time tenants as The Melting Pot, Hooter’s and Sullivan’s. The property is owned by Richard Hartley and David Vey, who acquired it out of bankruptcy in 1993 for $3.5 million. Hartley and Vey decline to comment on their plans, as does leasing agent Scott Bankston.
The shopping center, which was built in the 1970s and originally named Corporate Square, is in a prime location, according to local real estate agents. But they say rental rates—around $23 per square foot—are high for the type of tenants the center would be able to attract.
Last year, outparcel tenant TGI Fridays closed at the shopping center, and the building it was housed in remains vacant. In August 2013, Fox and Hound, an English-style pub and grill, also shut down its spot in the center. The location that Fox and Hound occupied is next door to the space being redeveloped, and it also remains vacant.
—Stephanie Riegel
