Using the old for development

A new shopping area on the verge of creating some waves in retail circles has taken a tired, seemingly worn out group of buildings and turned it into a customer-friendly facility without adding new boxes to our community.

Hitchcock Plaza, formerly the home of Kroger, Kmart and Goody's as well as a number of smaller stores, is poised to make a comeback with brand new shops in the Aiken market. The building that formerly housed Goody's has been a fitness facility for some time. The Kmart building has been renovated with part of it opening as home for Stein Mart.

Other stores on the verge of opening are Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, Old Navy, and Bed Bath and Beyond. These are some of the stores that many Aiken residents have been hoping would come to town. With the foresight of Hendon Properties of Atlanta, owner of the plaza, the center will soon become a popular destination once again for Aiken shoppers.

With the help of the City of Aiken, traffic patterns in Hitchcock Plaza have been reworked to allow for a better flow of vehicles in and around the shopping center.

Using an existing but declining shopping center, Hendon Properties has brought in new clients to a completely refurbished center. Without taking undeveloped property elsewhere for a new shopping center, the developers have infilled and made good use of a shopping area in a prime location. Traffic should also be expedited when a new road connecting the back of Hitchcock Plaza to Dougherty Road is opened.

This is the type of development that careful growth boosters have been advocating for some time. It is encouraging to see such planning come to fruition.