LH Press Library
Center Awaiting New Look
The Dallas Morning News, by Steve Brown
July 8, 2004
Developers planning to renovate a mostly vacant Lake Highlands shopping center say they hope to upgrade the busy intersection. The Kingsley Square retail center at Skillman and Kingsley has suffered since Whole Foods closed there a couple of years ago.
Investor Ray Washburne's Charter Holdings plans to start work in the next few weeks on the 139,000 square foot retail center.
Terms of the transaction with an institutional investor were not disclosed, but the shopping center, built in 1978, is valued on the tax rolls at $2.4 million.
"We are going to upgrade into a boutique neighborhood center," said Mr. Washburne, who recently acquired a portfolio of commercial properties in the Dallas area. "We think our project can be a catalyst to helping that area improve."
Whole Foods closed in mid-2002 after the Austin-based grocer said its sales had been disappointing.
Most of the retail has cleared out, but Mr. Washburne - one of the founding investors in the Mi Cocina restaurant chain - said the restaurant there is doing well.
"It's always been a great Mi Cocina location," he said. "But the landlord has not been attentive to the center, and it has emptied out."
No new tenants have been signed yet. The center has strong demographics, with almost 20,000 people living within a one-mile radius.
"The neighborhood has a lot of strengths, plus involved homeowners who would welcome more restaurants and retail," said Greg McDonald, an executive vice president with the Weitzman Group, which represented the previous owners in negotiations.
"The center now has the draw of Mi Cocina, and a renovation could help play off of the center's pluses and work to attract retailers and shoppers."
Reprinted with permission of the Dallas Morning News.
We're always looking for volunteers!
Find out how you can help out LHAIA!
