COOKEVILLE – A site plan released – but quickly pulled offline – by the developer of the Shoppes at Eagle Pointe, a retail center located at the intersection of Interstate Drive and South Walnut Avenue, showed a myriad of committed tenants – including a long-awaited Publix grocery store, an Academy Sports + Outdoors and discounters like Shoe Carnival and Ross department stores.
CHM Development shows Ulta, a beauty superstore; Michael’s, an art and hobby supplier; and Five Below, a value merchandiser that caters to the teen and pre-teen market, as also committed to the project. Several tenants have yet to be named; among them, Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton said, four restaurants.
Academy Sports + Outdoors, which is in the process of building a 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center outside the Highlands Business Park, would serve as the largest anchor, according to the plan. Its parcel is shown as 62,946 square feet. Publix would follow with a 46,031-square-foot store.
Overall, the development will include 250,000 square feet of retail space on 42 acres at a cost of $45 million, and leaders have said it could create as many as 750 jobs. CHM says the project is coming in summer 2016.
The news spread fast on social media Thursday night. Shelton said the project “still has a few hurdles to overcome,” and reiterated the plans do not include a Target, one of the most sought-after retailers for the Upper Cumberland market. UPDATE: Officials later told the UCBJ that some of the aforementioned tenants have not formally signed agreements.
The project is a joint venture between Browning Development Solutions and CHM. In the past, Browning has worked with chains like Qdoba, Chick-fil-A, McAlisters Deli and more. A call to CHM has not been returned.
