Tioga Center Breaks Ground
Courtesy of The Gainesville Sun
The Tioga Town Center officially broke ground Tuesday on a 90,000-square-foot expansion with retail space and apartments that will more than double the development’s existing space.
The next two buildings will be behind the current retail and office space that opened about a year ago. They will include 30,000 square feet of retail on the ground floors and 40 apartments on the second and third floors.
The development is focusing on bringing in more restaurants, women’s apparel and accessories, and more services, according to Grace Lambert, director of marketing and leasing.
Completion is expected in the fall or winter of 2008-09.
The apartments will include one-, two- and three-bed and bath from 900 to 2,500 square feet. Prices are yet to be determined, Lambert said.
The existing town center includes 83,000 square feet of retail and office space, with the two center buildings housing retail on the ground floor and offices on the second floor, a Millennium Bank/office building and a day-care building.
The retail mix includes higher-end shops offering bath and kitchen accessories, furniture, books, a hair salon, cafe and specialty food and wine shops. The center also includes a 25,000-square-foot Gainesville Health and Fitness Center.
A seafood restaurant, Ocean’s Restaurant, will be opening in the spring, leaving one suite of retail unoccupied, Lambert said.
Steve Williams, of Tapas 12 West downtown, is opening the restaurant. He said it will be family friendly.
The first phase is nearly 90 percent full, with most of the vacancies in the office space, Lambert said.
With Gainesville’s western expansion, Lambert said the vision is for the center to be at the heart of west Gainesville, a place where people come to take care of daily business or just relax.
Brent Christensen, president of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, said this is the sort of development the county will love.
“Certainly, we have a developer here who does things right, uses all local labor, contractors, engineers and turns out a product that is, I think, superior to anything I’ve seen anywhere in the country and probably internationally as well,” he said.
Developer Luis Diaz said the goal is to make the town center a destination people want to come to. “We’ve got more things to come.”
Future plans call for another three-story office/apartment building and possibly a bed and breakfast/spa in about two years.
Charles Perry Construction is the general contractor on the expansion, with Ponikvar & Associates the architect and Brown & Cullen Inc. the civil engineer.
Anthony Clark can be reached at 352-374-5094 or anthony.clark@gvillesun.com.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
By The Gainesville Sun
Anthony Clark
12:28 pm, November 07, 2007
Media Contact: Frankel Media Group 352-331-5558