New development to seek out to local businesses for retail

More than 40 years ago, local auto-shop owner Jey Edwards left the turmoil behind in his home country of Sri Lanka, and settled in the states with less than five dollars in his pocket. With a bit of faith, he was able to carve out an entity for himself in Riverdale Park, owning Jey’s Auto Shop since the 1980s.

“I don’t want to leave Riverdale Park. I don’t want to sell the place,” Edwards said at a brief town planning meeting last night. He attributed his shop’s success to the support of the community. “So here I am, trying to see if we can still salvage it.” 

Edwards had received numerous offers to sell the empty space, but none offered the funds worthy of garnering his interest. Now, with the representation of Keller Williams Commercial, Edwards hopes to turn the space into a short retail strip or mixed-used building with the help of the town’s advisory team.

“We want them to know that we’re a part of the community,” said Anthony Bolling, Edwards' representing broker from KW Commercial. “[Edwards] wants to remain a stakeholder in the community. We want to remain in line with the character and nature of what the community wants.”

The introductory meeting helped Bolling understand the town’s zoning agenda and community preferences. The preferred zoning for the areas is mixed used development, but it’s not a concrete necessity for the retail area to include new condos.

Plenty has changed since the EYA development of residential units by the arts district.  It’s continued to bring in a slew of businesses on Baltimore Avenue, including Chipotle and Yes! Organic Market, which are now in the works. 

Bolling has yet to reach out to potentially leasees, but stressed the need to market to the community’s businesses first, and then branch out to major retailers – especially since these major retailers are already solidifying spots in the neighborhood.

Originally, Edwards said, 15 percent of the planned development for his shop was approved to be a gas station. But the town is actively catering to pedestrians, and the extra zoning it would take to bring the gas station to fruition has left it as merely a thought. 

“It has not been an active gas station for many, may years,” Thompson said. “So turning it back into one would require much more inspection and extra zoning. There are extra hoops to go through if it stayed.” 

Bolling wants to explore options and market to parties who’d like to remain in the space long-term, and Edwards is still unclear about what he wants to do with the space. But the unique needs and demographics of the area pose an interesting case for developers to work with, especially when town members assure that they can’t be well represented on paper. The town is larger than the market profile KW Commercials presented, they said, and the demographic is changing frequently. What works for major retailers on a national level are not likely to work for the town; so it’s essential to reach out to the right people.

With just initial planning to understand what can potentially work in the place of the auto shop, the timeline for the project is unknown. But one member, Jonathan Ebbeler, is glad that Edwards has opted to continue owning his property with plans to develop it.

“The property should be developed, not just shut up,” Ebbeler said. “This guy is a long time investor in the community and I think we all appreciate that.”