Proposed Walmart Fizzles Out

Proposed Walmart Fizzles Out By PRESTON KNIGHT Daily News-Record April 28, 2015 HARRISONBURG — Property on the city’s north side went back on the market this month after a deal to bring a grocery store to the site fell through earlier this year. Six acres at Mount Clinton Pike and North Main Street were nearly rezoned last summer from a residential classification to business for Denver-based MVG Development to build a 42,000square-foot store. A nondisclosure agreement prevented MVG from identifying the business. But Jeff Robb, a commercial broker with Lee & Associates and the listing agent for the property, confirmed that Wal-Mart was the tenant, as was widely rumored. On Monday, he said the Bentonville, Ark.-based company restructured in July and then delayed closing on the property. It intended to build one of its Neighborhood Markets at the site. “We did everything but high-five each other,” Robb said of the deal. “This had all indications things were going to close.” The contract was officially canceled in February, he said, and part of the land involved — about 4 acres — was put back up for sale two weeks ago. Robb said a convenience store, drug store, and combination of fast food and gas station are among uses that make sense for the property. “Is it a great site? You better believe it,” he said. “That’s about as good of access as you’re going to get on two busy roads.” City Council approved a rezoning for the grocery store in July on a first reading, but the request was pulled before a second and final reading two weeks later. It was never put back on the agenda. Representatives on both sides of the deal — MVG, which was the prospective buyer, and Northside LLC, the property owner — declined to say why at the time. They were again silent Monday. James Moore, a representative of Northside, declined to comment, and engineer William Moore of Balzer and Associates in Harrisonburg, who has served as a representative for MVG, also declined to comment. A message for H Mc-Neish, MVG’s director of planning and entitlements, was not returned. A Wal- Mart spokeswoman did not return a message. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman also declined to comment. MVG has said it had a tenant lined up to bring the grocery store with a pharmacy and fuel

stations, adding 95 jobs to the area. It has worked with Wal-Mart to open Neighborhood Markets in Virginia, and the size and number of employees in the Harrisonburg proposal matched the Neighborhood Market profile. The Mount Clinton site wasn’t the only one in the area on the retailer’s radar. A Walmart Neighborhood Market is confirmed for Stone Port, a mixed-use development southeast of Harrisonburg near Sentara RMH Medical Center. The stores allow the company to offer fresh groceries, a pharmacy and some household items in a smaller footprint than its super centers. Wal-Mart also plans to open a super center in Timberville. Contact Preston Knight at 5746272 or [email protected]