Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation

Development announced - Retail, office and food sites are planned

Aug 10, 2007
By BULLETIN STAFF. Plans have been announced for a new 30,000-square-foot mixed use retail, office and food court complex at the entrance to the Bowles Industrial Park and Patrick Henry Community College.

The project, to be developed by North Bowles Partners LLC, will be located at the intersection of Kings Mountain Road and College Drive on 29 acres recently rezoned from industrial to commercial use.

Plans call for tenants to include a bank, two restaurants, a pharmacy, dental and medical offices, employment staffing offices, fitness center, a child day-care center, and insurance offices, among other service-related businesses.

The phased development will include up to five buildings designed to serve the approximately 4,000 people who work in the Patriot Center and the Bowles Industrial Park as well as the 1,000 people who work at and attend Patrick Henry Community College each day.

The complex also will cater to the residents of King’s Grant Retirement Community across Kings Mountain Road.

“We wanted to create a sense of community with this development,” said Barry Bowles, a partner with brothers Stanley and David Bowles. “We saw a need to create a commercial district along the Kings Mountain Road corridor.

“Staff and officials from the county administration building and county courthouse complex should find this complex convenient for a lot of their service needs,” he said.

The buildings will be located along College Drive and will have internal connecting driveways with access to Hollie Drive, College Drive and Kings Mountain Road.

Spaces will vary from 1,500 square feet to 6,000 square feet, depending on the tenant requirements.

Barnett Commercial Realty Inc. of Martinsville is the marketing and leasing agent for the project. Jim Barnett of the company said it is in the midst of talks with a variety of prospective tenants.

“There has been a lot of early interest in the project. We hope to soon be in a position to announce who some of the tenants will be,” he said. “For us this is a team project. Russel Gardner led the way on the rezoning application, after he had surveyed the property.

“My assistant, Stephanie Powell, has developed the marketing materials, and Melba Boyd, who assists with leasing and property management, will be meeting with prospective tenants to determine their needs,” he added.

Engineers for the project are from Mitchell Engineering of Greensboro, N.C. Groundbreaking is expected soon.