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Warehouse club coming to Tampa Palms

By EMILY NIPPS
Published December 11, 2005

TAMPA PALMS - There was talk of a Best Buy, a buzz over Borders. For years, people in New Tampa have wondered what exactly developer Warren Kinsler would be putting in his 306,303-square-foot shopping center at Commerce Palms Drive and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Finally, at least some of Kinsler's top-secret plans were revealed this past week. The shopping center will be called Market Square at Tampa Palms, and the anchor store will be BJ's Wholesale Club, a New England warehouse store similar to Sam's Club or Costco.

The names of other shops will be forthcoming, Kinsler said. Earlier this year, he said he would not reveal "a tenant here and a tenant there," so Kinsler was expected to name the shops all at one time.

The completion and opening of the center were expected to take place by the end of this year but still appear to be several months away.

There were initially rumors of a bookstore going into the center, but negotiations between Kinsler and the Borders chain broke down last year.

"I know everybody was hoping for a bookstore, since there isn't one close by," said Bill Edwards, president of the Tampa Palms Owners Association. "I've heard all sorts of rumors. I know there have been some business owners in Tampa Palms who have come to me asking if there's any space available in that shopping center."

BJ's will be the New Tampa area's second retail warehouse club, rivaling the Sam's Club on State Road 56 just inside Pasco County. BJ's next closest Florida stores are in Kissimmee and Sarasota.

- Emily Nipps can be reached at 813 269-5313 or nipps@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 10:13:05]