A developer's plans to build a shopping center along Corridor G are no more.
Interstate Realty, a Tennessee-based commercial developer, is ending its plans to build the Little Creek Village shopping center after the development became "economically infeasible," co-owner Mike Nidiffer said Tuesday.
The shopping center would have sat across from Southridge Centre at the intersection of Preferred Place and Corridor G. According to Interstate's site plan, Little Creek Village would have had space for about 17 businesses, including two anchor stores.
Nidiffer said Interstate Realty decided about a week ago to end plans for the Little Creek development.
"The costs got so high with rent for the tenants, development costs too," he said
He said the struggles of the retail industry haven't helped, with few companies looking to add more locations.
"It's not too great, not just in West Virginia, but all over," Nidiffer said of the retail industry. "E-commerce has changed business a lot."
A website for the proposed shopping center, www.littlecreekvillage.com, had been taken down as of Tuesday evening.
Whether Interstate decides to take another swing at building a shopping center in the area remains to be seen, Nidiffer said.
"We got to get something more affordable," he said.
South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens hopes Interstate will find another spot in the city to develop a retail space. Little Creek was to be part of South Charleston's proposed tax-increment financing district.
"We've been working through the process with them, and obviously it didn't work out, but we feel we'll have the chance to partner with [Interstate] on something else," Mullens said.
Nidiffer said Interstate sent letters notifying the property owners it had agreements in place with to buy their land that the project had been canceled. Tim Hudson, one of those property owners, said Tuesday he had received a letter that said the project had been nixed.
In June, Nidiffer said Interstate was on pace to open Little Creek Village stores in the summer of 2019, after the West Virginia Division of Highways conditionally approved a study on the center's impact on traffic.
This isn't the first time a developer abandoned plans to build a shopping center on the site. In 2014, the DOH objected to a development proposal by TSG Properties because of concerns on how it would affect a busy intersection, and the project fell through.
"I just feel sorry for the people that live there, I know they must be frustrated," Mullens said.
Reach Max Garland at max.garland@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @MaxGarlandTypes on Twitter.