Greenville Business Magazine 2010 July issue : Page 26
CHERRYDALE CROSSINGS Defies Recession Local restaurants anchor new shopping center BY RICHARD BREEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY COMMERCIAL IMAGING Along a stretch of North Pleasantburg Drive between Poinsett Highway and Rutherford Road, it sits like an oasis in the middle of clear-cut clay roadside. And in some respects, Cherrydale Crossings shopping center is an oasis. It’s one of the few examples of new retail development in Green- ville since the recession hit. “We believed in Greenville,” says Ford Elliott, who helped sign up tenants at Cherrydale Crossings on behalf of developer Jim Boyett. “We believe Greenville is a great city and is a lot more stable than some other parts of the country.” The 26,000-square-foot strip center has only one, 1,877-square-foot slot left to lease. “We’re looking for the right tenant, whoever it is,” Elliott says. 26 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | JULY 2010
Cherrydale Crossings Defies Recession
Richard Breen
Local restaurants anchor new shopping center
Along a stretch of North Pleasantburg Drive between Poinsett Highway and Rutherford Road, it sits like an oasis in the middle of clear-cut clay roadside.
And in some respects, Cherrydale Crossings shopping center is an oasis. It’s one of the few examples of new retail development in Greenville since the recession hit.
“We believed in Greenville,” says Ford Elliott, who helped sign up tenants at Cherrydale Crossings on behalf of developer Jim Boyett. “We believe Greenville is a great city and is a lot more stable than some other parts of the country.”
The 26,000-square-foot strip center has only one, 1,877-square-foot slot left to lease.
“We’re looking for the right tenant, whoever it is,” Elliott says.
Cherrydale Crossings won’t face much competition. CB Richard Ellis | The Furman Co. estimates only 35,000 square feet of new retail construction was under development in the Greenville market during the first quarter of 2010. It sees none in the Anderson or Spartanburg markets.
Over the past few years, as the housing market imploded across the nation, retail hunkered down. National chains stopped expanding. Developers, with the tenant pool shrinking and financing getting tighter, had few opportunities.
But Cherrydale Crossings found a successful recipe in a restaurant-heavy mix that emphasizes Upstate offshoots. The four, 200-seat anchors are Brioso Fresh Pasta, Compadres Mex Mex Grill, Mojo’s Famous Burgers and More, and Sakura, a hibachi-style Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar.
“There’s a lot of synergy because of all the other restaurants,” says Brandon McNeely, a partner in Mojo’s.
Mojo’s opened its first location in 2009 in Simpsonville.
“We had a good thing going in Simpsonville, so we decided to roll the dice and try again,” McNeely says.
The location on busy North Pleasantburg includes full bar service and is drawing customers from a wide radius.
“We wanted to be close to downtown but didn’t want to be in downtown” due to parking challenges, McNeely says.
Mojo’s opened in late May and McNeely says they had a “killer” first week of business. Karan Stratford, a partner in Brioso, says their restaurant has been “right on target” with business projections since it opened in March. “Each week has been significantly better than the week before,” Stratford says.
The first Brioso opened two years ago in Clemson. Stratford says they were introduced to Elliott when he went there to eat following a Clemson University basketball game.
“Greenville had been on our radar screen,” says Stratford.
She says their restaurant is considered fast casual. They also feature a wine and tapas bar in Cherrydale Crossings called Brioso Vino.
“We’ve got a pretty diverse group of restaurants in one little row,” Stratford says.
The shopping center sits at the backdoor of Montebello, an upscale subdivision developed by Rivers Stone. Boyett purchased the land for Cherrydale Crossings from Stone.
“Montebello was always a very nice subdivision surrounded by very weak retail,” Elliott says.
But it takes more than one subdivision for a shopping center to work. Elliott says the overall demographics were favorable.
“You’re in between Furman and Bob Jones” universities, he says. “There’s high traffic flow on Pleasantburg. You’re close to downtown. You have ample parking.”
Boyett Properties also went the extra mile to help fill the shopping center. Elliott reached out to potential tenants such as Brioso and deals were struck that helped convince entrepreneurs such as Gary Ratliff to take the plunge.
Ratliff owns the Nutrishop store at Cherrydale Crossings, as well as a Simpsonville location.
“They offered to do the buildout,” Ratliff says of Boyett Properties. Often, retail tenants receive their space as a shell and must completely outfit it. “I knew that would knock $30,000-$40,000 off my startup costs.”
Ratliff opened in early May and says a diverse group of customers are visiting his store for sports supplements and dietary aids.
Meanwhile, Elliott has decided to branch out. The 27-year-old continues to work to get Cherrydale Crossings up to 100 percent occupancy, but has opened his own real estate business, Elliott and Co.
“I am really, really dedicated to service,” says Elliott, who majored in construction management at Clemson. “I didn’t always envision owning my own company, but it just kind of made sense.” GBM
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