Plaza could welcome six businesses by May

by Robert Moore
Citizen Tribune
Jan. 17, 2004

Home Depot is the lone new tenant in the Morristown Plaza Shopping Center, but up to six additional new businesses could locate there by May, a developer said Wednesday.

Allen McDonald, a principal partner in the estate development company of Baker Storey McDonald Properties, says he foresees two "big box" retailers in the 56,000-square-foot building on the Plaza's west side.

McDonald says up to four additional smaller businesses could locate in the 12,000-square-foot strip center on the east side of the property.

Home Depot owns the Morristown Plaza, but contracted with the Nashville-based development company to identify and sign tenants.

The developer says no prospects have signed contracts, but he expects to announce the first tenants in the next 60 to 90 days.

"We're letting the market come to us," McDonald said. "The excitement is really building and people are looking at it.

It's been exceptional, and (interest) has been growing in the past three weeks ... We're just excited to be involved in the project. We're excited that the (Morristown Plaza) is coming back to life again."

McDonald says he's just as cognizant of what's not a likely development option as what he'd like to see at the Plaza.

Locating a grocery store, McDonald says, is a remote possibility. Signing a retail giant like Target or Kohl's isn't even being considered because the rental space is insufficient to accommodate such a large store.

Among the possible tenants McDonald foresees for the larger building are furniture and electronics stores. McDonald says unspecified service providers continue to express interest in the smaller building on the east side of the Plaza.

The stated goal of the tenant search is to revitalize the once-blighted shopping center, create jobs and broaden the tax base - a goal that meshes well with the objectives of the Morristown business community.

"I think this grand opening is testimony to what we talked about at the chamber's Annual Meeting, that employment diversification is potentially on the horizon," said Frank McGuffin, president of the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce.

"I think certainly Home Depot and its rich tradition in retail is a sign of things to come, and I want to thank Home Depot for their investment in our community," McGuffin added.

 

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