A 62,500-sf Fry's grocery store will open its doors this week as the project anchor. The land was sold by Smith's Food & Drug Centers Inc., now under the Fry's brand. Ron Ault, a senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis in Phoenix, tells GlobeSt.com that the seller has been holding the property at the intersection of Germann and Alma School roads in a land bank for nearly 20 years.

The 34,000 sf of inline space already is 30% pre-leased to community-service tenants, Ault says. He expects that will rise to 50% by ground-breaking time. CB Richard Ellis first vice president, Bob Pearlstein, is handling project leasing.

Ault and Dave Newquist, also a CB Richard Ellis senior vice president, brokered the land acquisition on behalf of the buyer. John Applebee of Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Phoenix office, represented the seller.

Ault says the inline development phase will deliver in late summer. KDRA of Scottsdale is the architect and Summit Builders of Phoenix, the general contractor.

Ault pegs the project cost, including land, at nearly $4 million. But, he adds, it comes with the promise of success due to its positioning in one of Chandler's strongest retail corridors, Alma School Road. The property is flanked by retail and brand-new residential projects, a sure-fire ticket for prosperity.

The developer has a long-standing relationship with Fry's, according to Ault, Still, the group was selected from a field of "two or three" other offers to develop the inline space. The Phoenix-based developer also has retail centers in Mesa, Apache Junction and Gilbert, two of which are Fry's anchored.

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