Redevelopment planned for vacant car dealership

Redevelopment plans are in the works for the site of a former Palmer Dodge dealership at 38th Street and Keystone Avenue.

The 2.5-acre property is expected to be retrofitted by late spring for fast-food, retail and possibly medical office users, said John Byrne, a Cassidy Turley retail broker who has the site listed for $650,000. Byrne wouldn't identify the buyer.

Under one scenario the 9,200-square-foot former dealership building would be demolished and replaced with freestanding buildings occupied by retail and fast food users. Another option is to reuse the building for retail, food and medical tenants, Byrne said.

The asking rent for the space would be in the mid-teens per square foot.

Byrne said nationally known retail brands have committed to 5,000 square feet of space so far, and a medical user is interested in approximately 4,000 square feet of space.

Byrne noted the area is underserved from a medical standpoint. Medical users long ago abandoned the area for points north.

But consumers' appetite for low-cost meals is apparently among the biggest factors driving renewed interest in the long-vacant site.

Though retail real estate has suffered across the board, there’s still some action in the fast-food segment. “Everyone’s sales are down, but low-cost, readily available food is still a growth industry,” said Byrne.
 
More than 20 blocks north, in a healthier trade area, Yum Brands Inc. has broken ground on a KFC restaurant on an outlot across the street from Glendale Town Center. Yum bought the site last year for a store that will replace a KFC at the northwest corner of 71st and Keystone.

Byrne has the site of the existing KFC listed for $785,000. He said it’s likely a buyer will reuse the 3,200-square-foot building with drive-thru, which is being replaced because of a chain-wide program to update KFC stores.

Byrne was also the listing agent for the site of the new KFC. Louisville-based Yum, which owns numerous fast-food brands, prefers to have its restaurants clustered in close proximity to one another. The new location fits the bill because the company owns a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express store across Keystone Avenue.

The new KFC is seeking LEED certification. Byrne thinks it will be the first such store in the chain.

The property was sold to Yum Brands by Oliver and Debbie Morris, owners of Morris Realty Group. They own several properties along the Keystone corridor, including a six-story, 70,000-square-foot office building immediately south of the outlot they sold to Yum.