BATAVIA
Retail boom is in store for Batavia with construction of 2 strip malls
BATAVIA — What a decade ago was open farmland in the Town of Batavia is being transformed into multi-million dollar retail site, thanks to two large strip malls.
The Towne Center, being built by CDR Development of Fayetteville, is under construction at a site located off Veterans Memorial Drive. The center’s first tenant will be a Target store, slated to open on July 27th.
Other retailers in the 330,000- square-foot shopping center will include Bed Bath & Beyond, Petco, Michael’s Crafts and Famous Footwear. These stores should be complete in the fall, according to the developer.
Lowe’s will co-anchor the shopping center with Target. The home improvement and building product store’s 138,800-square-foot building is about half complete.
The shopping center site, adjacent to the Holiday Inn on Park Road, also has two smaller buildings that could attract restaurants.
A short distance away, the Spectra Group, a Tennessee-based development firm, is erecting a steel frame for the 34,000-square-foot Batavia Shopping Center. Tenants will include Peebles and Cato, both clothing retailers.
Veterans Memorial Drive has already attracted a Super Wal- Mart store, OfficeMax and Home Depot.
The developing area, which includes the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department’s new Administration Building and Communications Center, adjoins the city’s western border.
The area also includes an Applebee’s Restaurant, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Sears, plus a cluster of six hotels and motels at the nearby Thruway exit.
