The new Kroger Marketplace at the northwest corner of FM 407 and Jeter Road will likely be open by April with the Kroger fuel station open possibly as early as February.
Christian Goedde, development director with Houston-based NewQuest Properties, offered an update during a recent joint meeting of Denton County Fresh Water Supply Districts 6 and 7, which oversee Lantana.
The 113,531-square-foot grocer will be the centerpiece of an estimated 200,000 square feet of commercial development along FM 407 on the southwest side of Lantana.
Lantana Town Center will feature a nail salon, a hair salon, a fast food restaurant, a fine dining restaurant, two banks and at least four other businesses, including a barbecue restaurant.
On the north side of FM 407, a Walgreens is planned along with future development to include several restaurants, two of which will be adjacent to a large outdoor patio facing the Lantana Golf Course.
NewQuest has announced the following tenants at Lantana Town Center: Legacy Nail Spa, Terry’s Donuts, Dickey’s BBQ and Tokyo Samurai and Hibachi.
“We’re trying to provide more convenience for the community,” Goedde said, adding the company is pursuing more medical-related businesses to provide dental, medical care and possibly emergency care.
NewQuest is planning a heavily-landscaped look by spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars to include trees and other plants on the property, Goedde said.
“It’s going to pop,” he said of the landscaping planned for the development, adding they want the drive-by appeal to be noticeable.
An attempt to save existing trees on the north end of the property did not work due to ponding in the area caused by the trees. The trees also were unhealthy, he said, adding that one particular oak tree was almost dead.
When asked if the developer would sell the property after completing it, Goedde said NewQuest was different in that respect from other developers. They keep the properties they develop and continue to manage them, he said.
NewQuest does not pool outside equity, preferring to finance their developments in-house. The company has an estimated $2 billion worth of properties in Texas that carry about a 33 percent debt.
The company also invests more into their properties with 6-inch to 8-inch concrete for parking lots and a lot of brick on the exteriors of building. The shopping center will also sport a lot of stone and wood, Goedde said.
“That’s how we’re a little different than most developers,” he said.
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