CommunityLink

Oak Ridge, TN

Retail

Tony Cappiello drove past an empty hotel on one of Oak Ridge’s major thoroughfares almost daily. He decided the eyesore needed to go. The real estate lawyer turned developer acquired the property and began inviting restaurants and retailers to consider the high-visibility location.

His search ended when Outback Steakhouse decided to open there. Diners filled the restaurant for its October 2004 opening, and the Aussie-themed Outback has proven to be a popular dining spot in Oak Ridge. “Outback opens its doors at 4 o’clock, and I often see 30 or more people waiting outside for the doors to be unlocked,” Cappiello says. “I’m glad people are excited and eager to dine there.”

Primarily a dinner restaurant, Outback moved up its opening hour on Sundays from 3 p.m. to noon to meet demand just months after opening, according to Todd Fleming, managing partner of the Oak Ridge Outback. “We’re in an A-plus location. People drive right past us to get in and out of town,” says Fleming, adding that the restaurant received a warm response from everyone in Oak Ridge. “We’re pulling people from within a 50-mile radius, and that’s really cool.”

Cappiello plans to break ground later in 2005 for Pace Square, a retail development of up to 25,000 square feet behind the Outback site on Illinois Avenue. With specialty shops and dining, and possibly an Irish pub, the small retail center, taking its name from his mother’s maiden name, will have the ambience of an Irish or English village.

“In the 11 years since I returned, this is the first time that retailers and restauranteurs are calling me about Oak Ridge to find out if we have an available space,” says Cappiello, president of Cappiello Real Estate and Development Co. An East Tennessee native, he returned to Oak Ridge after practicing law in Texas.

A more than $20 million makeover for the Oak Ridge Mall is scheduled to begin in 2005. When completed, the new Oak Ridge City Center will feature shops, restaurants and department stores with exterior entrances; buildings with awnings and canopies; and wide sidewalks with trees, bringing a vintage downtown feel to the center of the city.

Anchor department stores at the mall will remain, and the development has already attracted a new Starbucks, the first in Oak Ridge, which opened in the fall of 2004. Steve Arnsdorff, chief manager of the Oak Ridge City Center, said the phased redevelopment will include 450,000 square feet of retail in the first phase, expected to open in mid-2006, and an additional 150,000 square feet in the second phase.

He and Cappiello agree that even though Oak Ridge is just 25 miles from Knoxville’s larger market, it has a distinctly different market area. Arnsdorff expects some Knoxville retailers to join national and local tenants at the City Center. Oak Ridge is a trade area for 125,000 to 150,000 or more people, according to the developers, and the demographics make it quite attractive.

Beyond the demographics, the two developers see Oak Ridge experiencing a resurgence that’s driving development. “There is a lot of job growth going on in the Oak Ridge area, especially at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex,” Arnsdorff says. “Timing is excellent for redevelopment of property.”

“With the extensive renovation and expansion of Oak Ridge High School, the impending opening of the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL, and the significant upgrading of the Y-12 Plant, there’s a lot more energy in Oak Ridge and a lot more recognition in Knoxville that Oak Ridge is a viable asset,” Cappiello says.

Capitalizing on that energy, two new fitness clubs, The Rush Fitness Complex and National Fitness Center, opened
temporary facilities in Oak Ridge in early 2005 and are constructing new facilities in Oak Ridge. National Fitness Center, with a focus on family fitness, is building a new facility on Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge. The Rush is renovating a former store on Illinois Avenue.

While new retail is moving into Oak Ridge, many of the community’s established retail centers are expanding and promoting their shopping centers in unique ways. Historic Jackson Square, one of Oak Ridge’s first shopping centers, organizes festivals and features the Oak Ridge Community Playhouse among its tenants. Many specialty shops call Jackson Square home and attract shoppers from throughout East Tennessee. Grove Center organizes special events to draw customers to its center.