Huntley development nearly full, Tucker says
By CHRIS FREEMAN - cfreeman@nwherald.com
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| H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@nwherald.com
AutoZone Parts Sales Manager Paul assists customer Nick Domino of Elgin in the store in Huntley. AutoZone opened in July in the outlot near Wal-Mart, a building that its developer said is nearly 100 percent filled.
(H. Rick Bamman ()) |
HUNTLEY – When Wal-Mart decided to build a new Supercenter in Huntley, the economic impact from more jobs and sales tax was evident.
Less conspicuous might have been the effect on other businesses. But Tucker Development Corp., which built an outlot next to Wal-Mart’s store off Kreutzer Road, said it had nearly filled the building after moves from AutoZone and Witt Insurance Agency this summer. Nails Paradise recently signed a lease for a 1,000-square-foot space, leaving one spot open.
“We’ve got one deal and are talking with several businesses about the other space,” said Adam Moschin, vice president of leasing at Tucker. “That would get us 100 percent leased. In a building that size, to get it leased in this time after building it on spec, that’s outstanding.”
Among the other tenants in the outlot are Cigar Emporium, T-Mobile, The UPS Store, Chiro One, Jimano’s Pizzeria and Fone Zone.
“[We sign lessees] through our experience, the demographics and knowing about the specific market, but this is definitely above expectations,” Moschin said. “Obviously we’re very happy, and l like the uses. I think the tenants are long-term users for the property. You always see some new franchise company with gimmicks out there, but you look at these tenants and they’re not comprised of those.”
The Wal-Mart opened this spring, and Moschin said the look of the world’s largest retailer played a part in helping lure businesses to the outlot.
“What Wal-Mart did, from the new looks, I think they did a phenomenal job,” he said. “I’ve seen them grow and change their prototype, and I think this new prototype is leaps and bounds above anything they’ve done before. It’s beautiful, a very bright store, and it’s got a huge green component.”
Moschin said Tucker often worked with Wal-Mart or large grocers as anchors of their centers, so he was familiar with using a main focus to draw in other businesses.
“Obviously it’s a point of discussion with [lessees],” he said. “I think it also shows you that you have visibility on Route 47.
“The world is shopping smarter and more efficiently, including trying to eliminate multiple stops for shopping. This is a prime example of that.”
Tucker has one other development property in the county – The Shops at Lakemoor development at the corner of Routes 12 and 120. The development got the green light from village officials in 2007, but has not started work.
Moschin said the project was not put on hold, but that negotiations to bring an anchor store were continuing.
“We won’t kick off a development without the anchor,” he said. “Even though we know we have interest from smallers users, we’ll wait until we have the anchor to break ground.
Tucker originally discussed signing Wal-Mart as the anchor store for the Shops at Lakemoor, but that was before the retailer announced it would build a new supercenter in Johnsburg just north of its current site in McHenry.
Still, Moschin said the company was talking to Wal-Mart among others for its anchor location.
“I think the biggest thing we’re all working on is two things,” he said. “Number one is timing and [two is] liquidity of capital from a retailer’s standpoint. I think we’re trending in the right direction. There’s retailers out there – not as many as we’d like – but retailers out there having very, very good years in certain categories.”
