Posted on
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Developers Anticipate Commercial Boom On Old Jacksonville Highway
By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor
Change comes incrementally, or so one might think.
Business Editor
Change comes incrementally, or so one might think.
The scenery on Old Jacksonville Highway south of Grande Boulevard has been changing slowly over the past year, with the Texas Department of Transportation completing a multiple-lane highway. Now, partners in Oak Properties say passersby can expect to see a surge of commercial development along the corridor.
"Definitely from Grande to the new loop we own a vast majority of available commercial frontage," said J.P. Davis, vice president of Oak Properties, which includes the Oak Hills and Oak Hollow developments.
Oak Properties President Steve Thornton said this includes two miles of frontage along Old Jacksonville Highway.
Steve Thornton, right, and J.P. Davis pose for a photo at their office in Oak Hollow. Thornton and Davis are president and vice president, respectively, of Oak Properties.
Thornton and Davis are not blowing smoke; they have been selling land.
About three years ago the men, along with a Dallas investor, began developing the Oak Hollow community, a 175-acre tract south of Hollytree West, as a residential and light commercial mixed-use addition. They said residential has flourished there, and activity on the commercial side is beginning to accelerate.
Later, a 190-acre tract on the west side of Old Jacksonville Highway became part of Oak Properties, and it was named Oak Hills.
Thornton said he anticipates all of the commercial sites in Oak Hollow to be sold in three to four years, and all of the commercial sites in Oak Hills to be sold in four years.
Janie Malone, Central Title Co. area manager for Smith County, and Stephen Taylor, Central Title senior vice president, stand by the sign of the new company, which opened recently in Oak Hills. Taylor said a study indicated Tyler was moving in the direction of the title company’s location, and that area gave it good access from Grande Boulevard and Loop 49.
And so far, buyers have include some of Tyler's well-known names, including Brookshire Grocery Co., which is planning a store on the Oak Hills side of the highway, and Swann's, which is documented on an anticipated development map to locate a store on the Oak Hollow side.
"We're very, very fortunate to have two of the oldest retailers in Smith County," Davis said, adding both companies are finalizing their stores' designs and are planning to have major announcements of the projects in the future.
Two businesses can be easily seen from Old Jacksonville Highway - Central Title Co., which celebrated a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, and First Bank & Trust East Texas, which is under construction.
Stephen Taylor, Central Title senior vice president, said a consultant's study showed that Tyler was moving in the direction of his company's location.
"We felt like right there was the hub of not only the development of commercial ventures going into that area, but as well as residential areas that are being built even further south down Old Jacksonville Highway."
The location is also easy to reach from Loop 49 and Grande Boulevard, Taylor said.
Behind Central Title, at 6720 Oak Hill Blvd., a crew is building Oak Hill Montessori School, which is scheduled to open in August.
Louise Dyer, head of school, said she had looked for about three years for a location to establish the school.
"We were the first ones to look at the property, the area, and now it is actually coming to be, so we are very thrilled," she said.
Ms. Dyer has a Montessori school in Longview, and it is completing its 27th year.
The Tyler school will have an open house on Aug. 17. Curriculum building is set to begin Aug. 25, after a week of pupil transitioning. It will initially serve pupils from 18 months through the second grade, Ms. Dyer said.
The school will add a grade each year until it reaches the sixth grade, and it will continue to expand.
Other tracts have been sold to buyers including Wisenbaker Fix & Associates; Prothro Wilhelmi & Co., Heart To Heart Hospice and the interior design store Your Favorite Things.
Across Old Jacksonville Highway, on the Oak Hollow side, the lake nearest the highway is planned to be the site of restaurants.
"We're negotiating with at couple of restaurants right now," Thornton said. "The restaurants we're dealing with right now are fine dining."
"And the restaurants will sit on the lake and have patios out over the water," Davis added.
The commercial area planned for Oak Hollow is planned to be high-end and intimate, he said.
Both additions will incorporate commercial development in such as way that it is not obtrusive functionally or aesthetically to Old Jacksonville Highway or the residents of either Oak Hollow or Oak Hills, the men said.
For example, parking will be on the sides or backs of the buildings and architecture will be tightly controlled.
"Anything that we do in either development, we want it to be the nicest of what it is in Tyler," Davis said. "We want to provide all the amenities commercially for our residents. ... We want to create a community that is truly diverse."
Also in the plans is a 13-acre shopping center next to the future Brookshire's store, Thornton said.
"We will be announcing that at the same time Brookshire's starts, and we're working with our architects on that right now," Thornton said.
"We want to describe it as legacy building," Davis said. "What we mean by legacy building is we want for generations to come in Tyler to be proud of what we've done here."
Other ventures in which Oak Properties is involved include 220 townhome units and a 200-unit apartment complex.
"One of the things that we require is that it had to be Class A-plus, and there would not be any government subsidy as far as rents out here," Thornton said of the apartments. "There's a place for everything, and we're trying to get a little bit higher end out here."
One thing that distinguishes from the Old Jacksonville Highway corridor from South Broadway Avenue is that the land that comprises Oak Properties was owned by two wealthy families. And when they sold the land, they sold the entire tracts.
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