Upon reading fellow blogger John Michlig's "Shoppes at Wyndham Ghost Town" postings, I was motivated to do a little "refresh" on the Shoppes at Wyndham Village. When we last discussed this project to some extent, it was to talk about Sendik's Fine Foods shutting down and to be replaced by a Pick n Save. While that's significant in many aspects, another issue that should have been brought up is the large amount of empty space in the several outlot buildings that are along Hwy 100 and Drexel Avenue. Fortunately, that might be shaping up into something a little more positive.
While the developer and/or the broker for the Shoppes at Wyndham Village probably tossed the concept of a separate website aside due to the lack of updates to it (last one was apparently in July, 2008), MidAmerica Real Estate has kept up with their flyers and data on their primary website. When one goes to their flyer, you'll see that Sendik's Fine Foods' logo was replaced by Pick n Save's on every photo showing that particular building in the center. Along with that update, the outlot buildings seem to have more planned tenants than the average Franklin resident might not have known about! Here's what I mean (click images to enlarge):
So, based on their flyer promoting the site, Franklin could/will soon have several new businesses. All residents see when they travel past the development is SportClips and Huntington Learning Center as coming soon, and Ferch's and Cousin's are already opened. If we take the flyer seriously, the Shoppes at Wyndham Village could/will soon have a Verizon Wireless dealer, GameStop, a salon & spa, a drycleaner, and a restaurant that's yet to be named. Given the square footage, location, and previous mentions of this particular tenant by Mr. Carstensen to Plan Commissioners, my bet's on Panera Bread being the yet-to-be-named tenant.
While I might not be a huge fan of the project in how it came about and the politics behind all of it, I'm pleased to see that there might be more activity on the site with more retailers and restaurants. Perhaps then the "Ghost Town" will become something different.
