THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507010144
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY NEWSOME, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
Keith Williams has heard his share of wisecracks about the converted building where he works on Newtown Road.
``People come in here joking about wanting `Slurpies','' said Williams, a manager for Tidewater Computers.
The distinctive architecture of the former 7-Eleven convenience store once housed there is tough to disguise.
But then Williams isn't real interested in hiding the fact.
The building gives him ``walk-in'' customers he never had when his branch was located in a nearby office park.
Experts in real estate and city government all say that building turnover is a normal process in any economy, but putting familiar structures to unexpected uses has added benefits for the new tenants or owners.
Franchise architecture grew out of a need to standardize so that customers knew what to expect. ``That's what draws them into the parking lot,'' said Dave Walker, a senior real estate representative for the Southland Corp., owners of the 7-Eleven chain.
``Normally, chains don't move,'' said Jim Jard, a local real estate broker handling many of the Southland buildings in the area. ``But there's so many reasons why they do, such as losing a lease or problems with access.''
Access issues are what drove McDonald's and Taco Bell from locations in the Hilltop area, he said. The service roads that parallel Laskin Road deterred customers and both chains built new restaurants nearby on First Colonial Road. The former McDonald's became a ``sit-down'' Mexican restaurant, and the old Taco Bell now houses a local pizza restaurant that itself moved from a Hilltop shopping center.
Finding a vacant structure with such a distinctive design, however, is rare.
Walker said that 7-Eleven currently has 62 stores in Virginia Beach and that only 10 closed between 1990 and 1995. Four of the 10 were vacated when the leases expired and others were closed due to overlap with other 7-Elevens.
Walker said that he and Jard tried to fill his buildings with non- traditional uses in some cases to prevent competition with their existing stores.
``Some cases are absolutely blind luck,'' Walker said. One of the buildings near Richmond was filled by an antiques dealer and another on Bonney Road, now vacant, housed a doctor's office.
Benny Bannerman of The Boat Store on Shore Drive tells customers on the phone to look for the steeple on his former 7-Eleven. The building itself is hard to see with the boats parked in front. He had been selling boats at the same intersection for 28 years and is happy in his new building.
Bannerman said the building was well constructed using expensive techniques, was in a high traffic area and already met all the costs of zoning, such as raising the building above flood stage. He also was able to buy outright for about half the cost of constructing a new building.
Jim Jard said the construction costs alone would run between $250,000 and $300,000 for a similar building. The costs of land in those locations is another matter, since the chains all built in high traffic areas.
``It's a good price for the buyer and a good price for Southland,'' said Jard, ``since Southland has been depreciating it all along. It gives the small businessman the opportunity to own his own building.''
The price of these buildings makes a difference in business decisions. Tidewater Computers moved out of leased space in the Koger Executive Center to buy the former 7-Eleven. Bon Air Cleaners recently expanded with a new branch in the former Worrell's Brothers shrimp outlet on Laskin Road. That building began as part of the Golden Skillet chicken chain, which pulled out of the area.
Flexibility is another factor that draws new tenants to these buildings because they can reconfigure the interior to suit changing needs. The aisles are easily removed and replaced with dividers for employee cubicles. Back rooms can be made into private offices.
Gary Geary, who operates Geary's Seafood in a former 7-Eleven on Shore Drive, said he found there was actually too much space in his building, so he added a kitchen serving take-out customers.
City officials said that this building turnover process is good for the local economy. Patricia Phillips, the city's finance director, said its impact is not as great as the normal business turnover in Virginia Beach, but added ``it's probably a `win-win situation' for everybody.'' It has meant new construction in some cases and the city gains revenue because the buildings remain occupied.
Mark Wawner of the city's Economic Development Department said the buildings often serve as incubators for new businesses. They can allow people to move start-up firms out of their garages, he said, because to grow the fledgling business needs to have inventory on hand and low overhead.
``I wasn't even thinking of opening until I saw this building vacant,'' said Geary. This is his first job out of high school, though he had been catching and selling seafood locally for several years. Geary, 19, leases the building, but said the rent is significantly lower than in a shopping center and he does not have to worry about mall neighbors complaining of the smell.
Wawner adds, however, that these buildings might have stayed vacant if the economy's condition were better over the past few years and construction had not slowed. Most of the available retail space has been absorbed, he said, and there is pent up demand for more. Wawner said there will probably be more construction of retail space this year than in all of the last four combined.
These businesses are not concerned about other retail space.
``I think we're still fortunate to be in a growth town where, when a building goes empty it gets occupied,'' said Bannerman. ``In some other cities, once it's vacant, it stays that way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by Charlie Meads
Benny Bannerman of the Boat Store on Shore Drive tells customers on
the phone to look for the steeple on his former 7-Eleven. The
building itself is hard to see with the boats parked in front.
Gary Geary, who operates Geary's Seafood in a former 7-Eleven on
Shore Drive. said he found there was actually too much space in his
building, so he added a kitchen serving take-out customers.
by CNB