JAH Realty Redoing 28-Year-Old Center

EDMOND, OK-JAH Realty LP is poised to start work soon on the redevelopment of the 28-year-old Ashling Square. The overhaul is slated for completion in December.

The owner plans to lop off about 3,000 sf of the shopping center at 301 S. Bryant Ave., bringing it to 30,500 sf when it’s done. JAH Realty president Jeff Norman declined to discuss construction costs, but did say the three-acre asset will undergo a complete facelift. The plan is to redo the façade while leaving the slab and sidewalls intact. He tells GlobeSt.com that his Oklahoma City-based development company also is contemplating a name change for the center, but a new one hasn’t been selected.

“Historically, that’s always been a very good corner,” Norman explains about the Bryant Avenue-Second Street crossroads. “In the past five years, it’s gone from being a good intersection to the best intersection in the area.” He estimates there is 1.5 million sf currently under development in the area. In addition, Target and Lowe’s Home Improvement have built stores directly behind Ashling Square while a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, Blockbuster Video and Kohl’s are right down the street.

JAH bought Ashling Square for $2.31 million last fall. It was 80% leased. Norman says the present occupancy is 10% and very shortly it will be zero so work can get under way. The JAH team, though, has been preleasing the reconstructed space, with tenant commitments already in hand for 40% of the upcoming redevelopment. The retail space is being marketed for $25 per sf, net.

Norman says JAH decided to renovate rather than scrape and rebuild due to the cost. “The economics were such that we felt we could better achieve our goals by renovating, rather than tearing it down,” he says. “That’s the kind of thing we do.”

JAH also is the general contractor. Pascal Aughtry & Associates of Oklahoma City is the architect for the project.