Plans shaping up for new retail center

Dirt has been moving at the construction site for the College Corner retail center, located between Indianapolis Road and Washington Street.

Plans for a new retail center across from Kroger in Greencastle took another step forward Monday night as members of the Greencastle Plan Commis-sion approved a request for the future College Corner.

Currently the spit of land between Indianapolis Road and Washington Street is home to the Kork and Keg liquor store, but the owner of the store, John Cunningham of Frankfort, says he plans to tear down the building and construct a new one, complete with room for up to six additional retailers.

Also Monday night the plan commission learned from Cunningham that national movie rental company Family Video has agreed to construct a store on the east end of that property.

Cunningham told the BannerGraphic Monday night that he hopes to begin construction of his building as soon as the weather allows, with hopes of completing the building in July or August.

Already crews have been constructing a retaining wall at the back of the property and Cunningham hopes footers for the building can be dug and poured soon.

He said he did not know the construction schedule for Family Video, however, he hopes that his building and the video store could be completed at about the same time.

"I think they'll be a great commercial neighbor to have," Cunningham said of the video store.

Members of the plan commission voted unanimously Monday night to give favorable recommendation to Cunningham's request to rezone a portion of the property -- to be occupied by the video store -- from residential to General Business.

Cunningham said the land had been previously rezoned, however, because the project had been delayed for so long, the rezone had expired.

Now that the plan commission has approved the request, it will have to go to the Greencastle City Council where it will face two separate votes before becoming finalized.

Cunningham said his new strip center will have a "DePauw look," meaning it will have a brick exterior and will be similar in appearance to the buildings on the campus of nearby DePauw University.

"We think that'll be a good fit there," he said.

Cunningham said the new store will give him the opportunity to expand his liquor supply. He said he is still working with other clients to occupy the retail spaces in the rest of the strip center.

Meanwhile, the plan commission approved the final plat of what is known as Enterprise Park II, located on the north side of Putnam County Airport and abutting State Road 240 from the south.

The seven-lot subdivision is being marketed to industrial clients for manufacturing operations. Much of the surrounding area is already occupied by several businesses that manufacture automotive parts for national car companies.

The city-owned property, located on the east side of Ballard Lane, is approximately 35 acres in size and is currently used for agricultural purposes. The area has been divided into seven lots, six of which are about 4 acres and the seventh at slightly more than 11 acres.

Officials say the lots would be best suited for buildings that are 5,000 to 15,000 square feet in size with one lot being ideal for an aircraft hangar.

On the west side of Ballard Lane, officials with Arizona-based Sandor Development Company have an option to purchase land for a large retail center abutting the current Wal-Mart supercenter to the west.

According to the company's website, they are seeking a large anchor store, possibly a home improvement center, along with a number of smaller stores. They have not secured any tenants, according to their website.

The Greencastle Plan Commission meets at 7 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at city hall.