Special Section

Commerce on the Upswing
Major New Retail Centers Will Add to the City’s Business Mix

Several retail stores, restaurants, a bank, pharmacy and other shops are on tap for this 30-acre parcel of land.

After years of behind-the-scenes work, Lacy Lakeview’s economic development efforts are paying off in a big way. Two major retail developments soon will break ground, and each is expected to add significantly to the city’s growing roster of businesses.

“We’ve been working on this for a number of years,” says Michael Nicoletti, Lacy Lakeview’s city manager. “It’s been a team effort. The city has been trying to get people interested in Lacy Lakeview in terms of business, and a couple of years ago we created an economic development commission.”

The commission was charged with learning about abatement policies and the other nuts and bolts of sensible economic development – an important move to promote the city’s strengths and competitive edge.

The city also hired an economic development consultant, Mike Barnes, to meet with potential developers and steer the city in the right direction. Barnes’ experience has significantly helped move Lacy Lakeview toward its development goals, Nicoletti says.

The Lacy Lakeview City Council played a major role, having the foresight to expand on the city’s infrastructure to make future growth possible.

Lacy Lakeview already has several economic development successes to its credit, including attracting BlueCross BlueShield into a former Kmart building in town. That $2 million project also brought 300 employees and paved the way for other large-scale, beneficial projects, Nicoletti says.

The current focus has been on two major projects that are already in pro­gress. N3 Development Ltd., a developer out of Fort Worth, is building out a 30-acre parcel at Interstate 35 and Lakeshore Drive, which, when finished, will contain several retail stores, restaurants, a bank, pharmacy and other shops, Nicoletti says.

The other retail center will sit on 65 acres in a newly annexed section on the city’s north side. It will be built by developer Tika Cheema, who is giving the city a portion of the acreage for a new civic center.

“He hopes to build a hotel there that would tie into the civic center once that project gets going,” Nicoletti says.

Advocates of planned growth know that new projects often spur additional growth, and the city continues to move forward with overtures to potential business partners. It’s also ramping up communications with the Lacy Lakeview Chamber of Commerce and the Connally Independent School District.

“We’ve gotten our public works depart­ment involved, as well as the chamber and the school district,” Nicoletti says. “All economic development has an impact on everybody, so it has to be a collaboration of people – not only to discuss what our needs are and how to get those businesses here, but also what the impact will be on all the services we have.”

To that end, the city commissioned a poll of residents to see what kind of goods and services they would like to see come into the city, and it also tapped the city’s major employers for their thoughts.

At the same time, Lacy Lakeview is benefiting from growth in nearby Waco. The Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn hotels in Lacy Lakeview have been ranked first and second in the county for occupancy.

“Waco to our north has been expe­riencing a huge economic boom, and a lot of retailers have already had a good look at us,” Nicoletti says. “We’ve had traffic studies done here in town, and those numbers are appealing. We definitely have the numbers here to support more development.”

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