From the Daily Nonpareil:
The paperwork is complete, and the walls have started to go up at the new Valley View Village.
"Sometimes it takes as long to go from the preliminary planning stage to the final approvals as it does to build the actual building," developer Mark McKeever said.
Located on Valley View Drive between Frontier Bank and the Valley View Apartments and visible from Interstate 80, the site will be seen by more than 60,000 vehicles daily.
The facility will house 25,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Two 10,000-square-foot buildings will be constructed, with one running parallel to the interstate and the other built perpendicular to Valley View Drive.
A 5,000 square foot building will be built in the center of the two larger buildings.
The buildings are divided into bays containing 1,250 square feet.
One or multiple bay integrated layout designs will be available. This gives tenants the flexibility to lease from 1,250 square feet to 10,000 square feet and have their space custom built to their specifications.
The landscape will add a streetscape feel to the exterior, with outdoor seating and green space in the courtyards.
A plaza area has been designed and will feature a tower that will serve as a focal point for traffic on the interstate.
McKeever said that the facility will be a welcome accommodation to the area. The village is based on a new trend in neighborhood convenience.
"There will be plenty of front door parking; people don't always want to walk through an acre of parking lot to pick up a few items," McKeever said.
With so many new subdivisions in the vicinity, McKeever said that the facility will provide much needed services to the area.
Bill Stazzoni of Ayars & Ayars, Inc., the firm that is the design and build contractor, said that the project will benefit the entire community and be quite pleasing architecturally.
"The more that we have talked with people in the area, the more support we have seen from the general public," Stazzoni said.
The planning process was difficult because many zoning and right-of-way issues arose. Easements from the old Valley View road that ran through the property had to be dealt with, as well as other engineering problems.
"Commercial development in this area is difficult," McKeever said.
"The hills make building challenging and all of the flat land is situated on a flood plain; it's hard to find quality land to develop."
McKeever said that even though he is an insider in the business, finding office space in the area for himself took a year. He is hoping that this new facility will rectify that problem.
Construction on the Valley View Village is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of April, weather permitting, and McKeever said that he has just finished drawing up the lease agreements.
McKeever would not comment on specific businesses that he has talked with about leasing space, but he said that he has received letters of intent from numerous retail stores, professional firms and restaurateurs.
The only leasee for certain is McKeever himself. He will move the offices of All Property Inc., Welcome Homes and All Remodeling Inc., from their current facility being leased from Midstates Bank on Madison Avenue.
