Paul’s Market
site
to be redeveloped
Sale of
21,000-square-foot
building pending
By GREGORY
FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
A Ketchum-based
real-estate broker and a group of partners have entered into a contract to
purchase the downtown Hailey building that houses Paul’s Market, and plan to
redevelop the site as a retail shopping center.
John Sofro, a
member of Associated Brokers of Sun Valley, said Friday that he and a group of
investors plan to close a deal by the end of March to purchase the approximately
21,000-square-foot commercial structure, which now is home to one of three large
supermarkets in Hailey. The others are Atkinson’s and Albertson’s.
Located on Main
Street between Bullion and Carbonate streets, the building is one of most
high-profile structures in Hailey.
"We’re
planning to make it the most attractive building in Hailey," Sofro said.
Paul Kenny,
broker for Colliers International of Ketchum, and the listing agency for the
Paul‘s Market property, confirmed Friday that the property is under sale
contract, but declined to disclose details about the pending sale or where Paul’s
might be relocated.
However, Kenny
said that the supermarket’s owner, Paul Zatica, intends to keep the business
in operation somewhere in the Wood River Valley.
"He wants to
stay in the valley," Kenny said. "He wants to do a new and improved
store, and the first phase of that is selling the existing store."
Speculation is
that Paul’s Market plans to relocate to the Bellevue site that now houses
Valley Market, but a Valley Market manager Friday said the business does not
plan to vacate its site in the near future.
Brian Ford,
manager of Paul’s Market, declined to comment.
Zatica over the
course of the last year has been actively seeking to relocate Paul’s Market.
In February, he asked the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission for permission
to rezone part of the block between Hailey’s Main and River streets and Maple
and Chestnut streets to accommodate a new 35,800-square-foot building and
parking lot.
The city
ultimately denied the proposal, and the plan was abandoned. The Paul’s Market
property on Main Street has subsequently been for sale through most of 2002.
Sofro said he and
his investment group buying the property will operate as an independent
partnership, and he will act as the group’s principal and agent.
He explained the
partners plan to redevelop the site as a first-class shopping center with seven
commercial units that have frontage on Main Street. The development will include
spaces that range in size from 700 to 7,000 square feet, he noted.
"We
anticipate at least one new restaurant coming in, but I envision it as primarily
retail," Sofro said. "There will be some tenants that are new to the
area, and I think that will be a good thing."
Sofro said he is
negotiating with the existing tenants of two retail sites on the north side of
the building—A&H Cellular and JC Penney—to stay in their respective
locations.
The partners
intend to leave the primary structure of the building intact, but will remodel
the entire interior and construct a new set of varied facades along the 300-foot
frontage on Main Street, Sofro said.
The planned
design of the new facades will feature "historical,
turn-of-the-century" architecture, and materials that include brick, stone
and stucco, he noted.
The plan also
calls for outdoor, patio-style seating and new landscaping.
"We want to
improve the look of the central business district," Sofro said.
"Clearly, the growth of the valley is south, not north."
Indeed, Sofro in
the last year has shown considerable interest in Hailey real estate. He is an
active partner with Ketchum resident Jeff Smith in a project to redevelop the
former Ironwood Tennis Club in Woodside as The Club at Copper Ranch. The new
tennis club opened last fall, and the partners intend to remodel part of the
development into a quality health club and spa set to open in 2003.
Kenny said the
sale of the Paul’s Market building is scheduled to close in March. "I
think it will be a nice addition to Hailey," he said of the proposed
redevelopment.
Sofro said
managers of Paul’s have asked to be allowed to stay in the building for 60
days after the closure of the deal to relocate their equipment.
"I think
they plan to leave by June 1," he said.