Developer Anthony Morrison will soon have another development go before the Gluckstadt Board of Aldermen – this time it will feature lower rental rates to accommodate more small businesses that want to be in Gluckstadt.
Morrison has previously gotten two developments approved and underway in the new city and has successfully brought high end, local businesses to Gluckstadt. His previous developments are both located along Gluckstadt Road right off of I-55. Due to the prime location for visibility, the rates for leases have had to reflect the cost to develop the area. Germantown Park, his newest development, will be one block off the main road and still have visibility but will allow the cost of development to be lower.
“My intention with this development is to create an opportunity for people who want to bring their business to Gluckstadt but can’t afford the rent on the Parkway,” Morrison said. “The Parkway is prime location and prime land and the land cost has doubled, if not tripled over the last two years, which makes the price of development so high that the leases have to be in line with what it costs to develop the property. With this one, I was able to acquire a big chunk of land at a better rate, and I’ll be able to pass that better rate along to the business owners.”
Morrison has made a point of signing high-quality, local businesses and this development will be no different, despite the lower lease rate. “We are still going to put the same amount of development and money and resources into it, so this isn’t going to be a cheaply built building,” Morrison said. “It is going to be an extremely high-end building. It is just going to offer an opportunity for businesses to lease in Gluckstadt at a more affordable rate if they are okay with not being right on the Parkway.”
One of the buildings within the development will be the new home of Ace Bolt & Screw. Morrison said they currently lease from him at a different location and have done so well that they need to expand.
“They want to expand and have more visibility, this will give everyone in Gluckstadt a local hardware store,” Morrison said. “Instead of having to go make the trek back to Lowe’s or Home Depot, they’ll be able to pop right down the street and hit Ace Bolt & Screw.”
Germantown Park will also feature a building with drive thru lanes, which will become home to a coffee shop.
“The coffee shop will be great for people coming onto the parkway to pull in and get coffee before work and such,” Morrison said.
The other building will be a 12,000 square foot retail development. “We are trying to bring more businesses and opportunities for people,” Morrison said. “We have leased everything that we have, and we are bringing more to the area.”
While there are not any other businesses specifically lined up just yet as this is in the very early stages, Morrison said he has been in talks with many kinds of businesses – ones that Gluckstadt residents have been requesting, such as a salad bar restaurant, breakfast restaurant, and a local cleaners.
“There have been a lot of different types of businesses that people want to see in Gluckstadt, and I think the biggest barrier to entry has been the ability for them to be able to lease at a rate that still works for their business,” Morrison said. “They don’t necessarily need the visibility of the Parkway and they can’t really sustain at the Parkway rates, so we built this specifically for those types of businesses. It will be things that are local and really things people in the community want but they haven’t had a place to go until now.”
The 24,000 square foot proposed development will go before the planning and zoning board this month. If the board approves it, it will go before the board of aldermen in early September.
“We did make sure to follow the previous sentiment from the planning and zoning board in that the buildings are shades of gray – not black and white,” Morrison said. “The hope is the value added to the community will be seen.”
If everything goes according to plan and the project is approved initially, Morrison plans to break ground on the project in October and be finished hopefully within nine months.
