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Galleria's mixed use is first for area

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published March 31, 2007

OLDSMAR - The freshly-painted, awning-decked Oldsmar Galleria is empty but the mixed-use development on State Street and St. Petersburg Drive is nearing completion and signing leases.

The $12-million, 60,000-square-foot project is expected to start filling its space in May, said Douglas Weiland, CEO of Clearwater-based developers, JES Properties Inc.

"We're very pleased with the building," Weiland said. "We like the look of it. We think it's a good first step for the reinvigoration of State Street."

The development is made up of retail space on the first floor, office space on the second floor and condominiums on the second, third and fourth floors.

Twelve of the 20 condos have sold. Prices for the two-bedroom condos have ranged from $290,000 to $370,000.

Connie Johnson, a real estate agent with ReMax ACR Elite Group, said the concept of mixing residential, retail and office space is common in other parts of the country but is a new concept to the area. But the Galleria marks the introduction of such development to Oldsmar.

The second floor office space has already been leased. JES Properties will move in and so will a wireless communications company.

Which leaves the bottom floor - about 15,000 square feet of retail space. No leases have been signed yet but Tim Kleman, retail specialist with CB Richard Ellis, a commercial leasing company, said he is in talks with a few restaurants, a jewelry store and a coffee shop.

Kleman said he anticipates about five or six users in the retail space and leases to be signed in the next few months.

However, progress is slow for JES Properties' other Oldsmar project, Olds Square. In 2005, the City Council picked JES to carry out its vision of a revitalized downtown.

The project called for a $64-million, 550,000-square-foot mixed-use town center along State Street. Negotiations between the developer and the city have been slow. Weiland said he's hoping to reach the full permitting by the end of the year and to begin construction by the first quarter of 2008.

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at tel-khoury@sptimes.com or 727 445-4181.

[Last modified March 31, 2007, 00:33:48]