New businesses will join longtime Opelika shopping center, Saugahatchee Square, as a new multi-tenant building emerges along Pepperell Parkway.
Five to seven tenants, including a Gigi’s Cupcakes store with a drive-thru, will take up the retail space, though not all leases are signed, the developer said.
The 10,000-square-foot building is about 60 percent complete and is expected to be complete by December, according to the developer.
“The rest of the shopping center is 100 percent leased and that’s why we went ahead and started to build this building out front,” said Mike Fimiani of Fimiani Development Corporation. He also noted that the new building will fill the need to place small-space tenants in the shopping center, which has mainly leased larger spaces.
The Gigi’s Cupcake drive-thru is the first of its kind in the company, Fimiani said. Aside from Gigi’s, Vision World, an eye care center, is the only other tenant with a signed lease for the new building.
“We’re looking for a few other retailers to go in — or restaurants or other retail uses as we get closer toward completion,” he said.
He said he would want new businesses, business relocated from other parts of the area or businesses adding to their locations. He said he’s comfortable with the current leasing status, but as completion nears he will be “aggressively marketing” the project.
Saugahatchee Square serves both Auburn and Opelika audiences, including students, by being on the border of the two cities, Fimiani said. However, traditionally it services residents.
Fimiani Development Corporation bought the Saugahatchee Square project in summer 2012 and has since renovated the development, from roofing to landscaping to parking lots. Construction on the new outparcel started in June.
“When we bought the shopping center, it was about 40 percent occupied,” he said. “And now we are 100 percent occupied.”
As more tenants have joined the shopping center, Fimiani said existing tenants have seen sales increases, building off one another.
"(Fimiani) has brought new tenants and a vibrancy that was not there before," said Lori Huguley, director of economic development for the city of Opelika. "It was only a few short years ago that much of the existing space there was vacant and now there is a need to create more, and this is due in large part to the ownership change."
Fimiani said he believes successful development can empower others to revamp their facilities.
“So I think it’s going to create more and more foot traffic for all the owners and retailers in the area,” he said.
The developer also has its sights on the future of Saugahatchee Square.
“I also have a future 3,000-square-foot building that will be available down the road. ... We’re going to get this building up and done and get all the tenants in and open first, and then we’re going to work on that building,” he added.
That building would hold one or two tenants.
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