Developer Planting $75M Project in New Corridor

Direct Development's Bobby Dillard and Krista Dabney have already locked in two anchors and are holding commitments for another 140,000 sf of national names for Market Heights for the junction of US Highway 190 and FM 2410 in Bell County. "We think we're going to deliver the whole thing at one time, but the minimum for phase one will be 500,000 sf," Jon Andrus, the developer's Austin partner, tells GlobeSt.com, citing a March 2008 completion expectation.

Andrus says contracts are in hand for a 125,000-sf Super Target and 12- to 14-screen Cinemark Theater. The Minneapolis-based Target Corp. will buy 12.5 acres for its store while the theater has agreed to a lease with a minimum 15-year term for its spot. He says the crew is to deliver Target's pad site in spring 2007 so the store will be ready to open in March 2008.

Direct Development's site is kitty-cornered to a new Wal-Mart Supercenter and near a renovated and expanded H-E-B grocery store. It's also visible from the six-lane US Highway 190. "I fell in love with the site as soon as I saw it," Andrus says, explaining he was scouting sites for a client when he passed the intersection. "It's an amazing little area. Harker Heights is where all the new growth is in the trade area."

Fort Hood in nearby Killeen is the engine for Harker Heights' newfound prosperity. And Direct Development's upcoming project "is the first big center that the city's going to get," Andrus says. As a result, he adds that "it's not been a hard sell at all" to the national retail circuit. The trade area has a 250,000 population and retailers are averaging $400 per sf in, according to Andrus.

Gary Payne with Austin-based EnviroPlan Architects has been tasked with creating a Texas Hill Country-style center with sandstone instead of the more commonly used limestone. Andrus says the estimated $75-million development will be laid out with all sizes of omni buildings plus 100,000 sf of shop space in line with the Target. EMJ Corp. of Dallas will be the general contractor while Dallas-based Cates & Associates holds the civil engineering contract.