With Target as the drawing card, McLeod Cobb Investments is experiencing strong demand from national brands for a prized spot in its $100 million mixed-use development on North Shore Corpus Christi Bay.
McLeod Cobb’s 45-acre project will be the only location that Target Corp. will open this year in Texas. The 128,500-sf store’s grand opening is slated for late summerin tandem with a national line-up that the developer alreadyhas secured for Oliver’s Way, locally referred to as Portland Town Center.
Coming to the development will be Jack in the Box, Brake Check, Raising Cane’s, Chipotle, Aspen Dental, Five Guys, James Avery and Wells Fargo. With Target and Raising Cane’s under construction, the developer is planning to break ground on a 13,800-sf freestanding retail buildingin the coming weeks.
“Target has validated the market. It is opening new avenues for additional national brands to locate in Portland,” says Meredith McLeod-Cobb, partner in the Houston-based development firm.
Portland is experiencing record growth in commercial and residential sectors. McLeod Cobb’s pipeline includes a 10.8-acre sale to a multifamily developer, who’s planning 300 class A units for Oliver’s Way, located at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 181 and Broadway Boulevard.
“The national retailers we’re dealing with see the Portland market as a critical piece to their south Texas expansion strategy,” says Michael McLeod-Cobb, a partner in the firm. “In fact, we have a lot more deals under negotiation at this time.”
Upon completion, Oliver’s Way will deliver 250,000 sf of commercial space to the market. The project’s 17 pad sites front U.S. Hwy. 181, themain thoroughfare leading to Corpus Christi with a daily vehicle count exceeding 70,000 vehicles.
The wife-and-husbandteam has personally designed and laid out most of Oliver’s Way. Osborne
& Vane of Houston is the architect of record for the five-tenant retail building with the Houston-based firms of Cheyenne Construction Co. and ALJ Lindsey serving as general contractor and civil engineer, respectively.
Oliver’s Way is McLeod Cobb’s second investment in Portland, which the partners believe is at a tipping point for commercial and residential development. The market is suddenly attracting many of the same regional and national brands that are found in Corpus Christi, a 25-mile drive for local residents and vacationers.
“Portland is deserving of more growth,” says Meredith McLeod-Cobb. “Target has blessed it and now others are coming too. We’re looking forward to our next group of announcements later this year.”
