90,000-square-foot retailer is the latest business to help transform Kellogg and Webb

By: Carrie Rengers

The southeast corner of Kellogg and Webb Road is undergoing a major transformation, and another big piece is now a done deal.

Floor & Decor is expected to open this fall in the 90,000-square-foot one-time Builders Square space at 9609 E. Kellogg across from Costco.

The national chain, which is expected to be a regional draw, will join the planned three-story, 102,000-square-foot Extra Space Storage and the new 15,000-square-foot Groves Retail Liquor.

Atlanta-based Floor & Decor, which is publicly traded, sells hard-surface flooring, including wood, laminate, ceramic, tile and stone.

It also has decorative materials for things such as backsplashes, countertops and showers.

The store is more like a warehouse and usually has about 3,800 products for sale.

Groves currently is in part of the former Builders space until the store moves into its new building in May.

The defunct DTY Direct was at the Builders space from 2010 to 2012, but then the building was empty until Groves temporarily moved there.

“I’m used to having no tenants around me, so it’ll be kind of nice,” Ron Groves says. “It’s going to be a great intersection.”

It didn’t start out that way. Groves has been at the intersection in various spots since 1980.

“I thought it was kind of far out of town,” he says. “The first few years, I wondered what the hell I was doing.”

The intersection finally started developing, but construction along Kellogg has hampered it.

“The highway project’s been tough on us and this corner for several years, but we’re finally turning that corner,” says Stephen Clark II.

“The corner is going to look pretty different,” he says. “We’ve gotten rid of some older buildings around that area. It’s going to look a whole lot nicer when all this is done.”

Clark calls Floor & Decor “a strong national tenant” that will be a significant attraction.

He says there’s something about the redevelopment of this prominent 14 acres that makes the project different from some in the city.

“Since it’s becoming somewhat unique around here, I feel the need to mention this project doesn’t involve any public money or other incentives for the developers, and customers won’t pay any extra sales tax to shop here.”

Brody Glenn of South Carolina-based Centennial American Properties, which is the company doing the storage development, says he “expected them to be able to draw a regional-type tenant.”

“Development breeds other development. . . . It makes the whole intersection feel new and redeveloped.”

Landmark Commercial Real Estate president and CEO Brad Saville handled the transaction.

“We have been working on this project for several years and we are thrilled to see it all come together,” he said in a statement. “We are now working with retail and restaurants for the remaining pad sites.”

The city also plans landscaping at each corner of the intersection that will be done in 2020.

Road construction should wrap up by the end of this year.

“It’s been trying,” Rigby says. “We all recognize it’s been trying.”

It’s even personal for him. Tell him you want to know when you can finally turn left into Costco, and Rigby says, “You and my wife.”

He says improvements at the intersection will “continue to drive interest” from others looking to come to the area.

“They can start to visualize what those final improvements will be.”