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development cropping up around city
By
JUSTIN
LANG
jlang@lakecityreporter.com
Real estate development can
be gradual and virtually unnoticed or sudden and
dramatic. Either way, it changes the look of a town and
the services available to residents.
Showing more signs of
growth, what was empty or unused space in several places
around Lake City is now set for changes.
On West Baya Drive,
adjacent to Kentucky Fried Chicken, local real estate
development firm Westfield Group is building a new
center known as Campbell Station.
Construction is already
under way, with the 5,200-5,300-square-foot center's
concrete foundation in place and being added to.
"It's going to be a pretty
nice little building," said Charlie Sparks, broker
associate for the Daniel Crapps real estate agency and
co-owner of Westfield Group.
Sparks said a Little
Caesar's Pizza franchise has already committed to occupy
one of the center's five units.
With a "professional office
tenant" also interested in a space, he said there should
be three units still available to interested businesses.
Sparks said the design of
the building will be brick with an "old-fashioned
motif," including features like awnings.
The name of the center came
from a park that formerly occupied the area known as
Campbell Park.
"Because that was the site
of the original Campbell Park," he said. "We decided to
name it Campbell Station."
With construction started
on the site about a month ago, Sparks said he hopes the
project will be completed in three months, "early summer
for sure."
Closer to downtown, a lot
next to - and owned by - the Lake City Post Office is
having the remnants of a home and church on the property
demolished.
Ken Brantley, postmaster,
said the land will be used for the proposed expansion of
the post office.
A portion of DeSoto Street
beside the Post Office will be closed as the existing
building is expanding south to the open lot with a new
front, side section and lobby.
Brantley said the
demolition is the first phase of an ongoing project and
isn't sure when actual construction would begin or end.
"But hopefully with this
part taking place it should begin this year," he said.
"They've already started pulling out the asbestos
shingles, and we hope for it (demolition) to be
completed within the next 30 days."
Brantley said the current
Post Office lobby is not big enough to meet the
community's needs. A new lobby would have about 300 more
square feet of floor space and a more efficient set up.
With 37 mail routes going
out of the Lake City post office, Brantley said it is
important to plan for future growth in the present.
"You don't want to wait
until you have a problem, so we are trying to take care
of it a little ahead of time," he said.
Also, at the corner of Baya
Drive and Duval Street (U.S. 90 West) lot of land owned
by Robert Royer has been recently sold by Kalb and
Associates.
Royer did not return phone
calls Tuesday, but a representative for Kalb said the
space will become office buildings.
The expanse of grass at the
well-traveled intersection has been used mainly by
roadside merchants selling goods ranging from
Confederate flags to Christmas trees.
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