Victory Drive Walmart could draw more businesses

When Walmart talks, people listen. And the mega-retailer speaks loudest when it makes the decision to build a large supercenter in your area of town, just as the Arkansas company plans to do at the corner of Victory Drive and Benning Drive in south Columbus.

Construction is expected to begin early next year on the 158,583-square-foot grocery and general merchandise store and take roughly a year to complete. It will be rising on 18 acres that included the former home of Baker High School, which opened in 1943 and roared through nearly five decades before closing in 1991. The building was demolished in 2011 after a major fire.

When the new supercenter opens to shoppers in 2016, its economic presence likely will ripple through the surrounding area. Other retailers, service businesses and restaurants are expected to move into the vicinity of the store and beyond to grab a slice of the financial pit it will create through heavy consumer traffic.

"That's kind of the nature of the beast, isn't it? Where Walmart goes, they've figured out something and know there's demand in the area, and by their mere presence it tends to foster additional activity," said Columbus businessman and Zaxby's franchisee Dick Norman.

The retail powerhouse out of Bentonville, Ark., certainly generates more than a buzz whenever it enters a market or even a neighborhood.

Such was the case with the Walmart Supercenter that opened on Gateway Road in the Midland area of northeast Columbus in March 2008. At that time, there was a small area of commercial offerings at the intersection of U.S. Highways 280 and 27. A Wendy's and Rite Aid pharmacy, along with a convenience store and small strip center, were among the meager offerings.

Today, with Columbus developer Ben Billings constructing retail, restaurants and service businesses adjacent to the supercenter, and the Woodruff Co. of Columbus building apartments and a restaurant hub nearby, it's a different atmosphere altogether.

That infusion of commercial and residential activity, along with development of nearby Muscogee Technology Park, is what prompted Norman and partner David Young to build their 90-seat Zaxby's chicken eatery in the area. It should open in October alongside a burgeoning lineup of chain independent restaurants.

"The more the merrier. We love to see it," Norman said. "That whole side of town, I think, has huge potential."

Ground has yet to be broken on the Walmart Supercenter on Victory Drive. But Jack Martin, a developer with Atlanta-based company Bright-Meyers, which is handling the project, said he thinks something similar will happen in an area of town that has been slowly improving its image and commercial offerings in recent years.

A Georgia Department of Transportation traffic study performed in 2012 showed 37,830 vehicles a day passing the property upon which the supercenter will be constructed. The traffic counts fluctuate between 27,640 and 35,510 vehicles daily at different points along Victory Drive before reaching the South Commons area near downtown.

"It's going to have a great positive impact in the area," he said. "Everything in my typical experience (shows) more development and redevelopment typically goes along with something like this."

Martin said he can't say specifically what businesses he is negotiating with to locate at the shopping area that is being called "Victory Square," but he is looking to fill 21,000 square feet of commercial space on the Walmart site. A site plan shows a gas station on the property as well.

"There will be a great mix of retail, shopping, dining, etc.," said Martin, who also is working to fill commercial space adjacent to a Walmart Neighborhood Market that is planned for Manchester Expressway, adjacent to Columbus Technical College.

That 41,983-square-foot supermarket is being built on about eight acres of land that once was home to Daniel Elementary School. The Neighborhood Market will be accompanied by 10,500 square feet of retail space and a 12-pump gas station in a center dubbed "Daniel Plaza."

"We are in the phase of attempting to get everything set up with our retailers," Martin said. "There won't be a lot of trouble with these. There's a whole lot of interest from a whole lot of different parties -- national, regional and local."

'Game-changer'

Longtime south Columbus resident and proponent Owen Ditchfield said he, too, sees the Walmart Supercenter becoming a major influence on economic development in that area of the city.

"I think it will spawn other businesses, hopefully a sit-down restaurant or two," he said. "I've had people already tell me that they have adjacent property that has been for sale that is suddenly attracting potential buyers, and I just think it's going to be a whole game-changer."

But the retail behemoth's future presence doesn't come without concern, said Ditchfield, who bought his home in Oakland Park in 1968 and has been president of the group, South Columbus Concerned Citizens, for 28 years of its 35-year existence.

He wonders if it might have a detrimental impact on the grocery stores that have been doing business in the area for years. There are two Piggly Wiggly supermarkets in the vicinity, one just down Victory Drive and another on South Lumpkin Road, as well as a Winn-Dixie on South Lumpkin.

There have been instances locally indicating the debut of a supercenter can push grocery stores to the brink. After the Walmart Supercenter opened not far away on U.S. Highway 280 in Phenix City, a FoodMax supermarket shut its doors in 2001 amid its parent company's financial troubles. Four years later, Winn-Dixie's storefront in the area went dark.

"I'm concerned about the survivability of two supermarkets that have been very good neighbors for us," said Ditchfield of the South Lumpkin Road Winn-Dixie and Piggly Wiggly. "I'm hoping -- especially people who live in Oakland Park -- will find it more convenient to go to those two supermarkets just to pick up some milk and bread and basic groceries than to go into the huge supercenter. I think it will attract more people heading home from Fort Benning to Alabama that don't live as far out as the one (in north Phenix City)."

Still, Ditchfield sees primarily good things coming from the new Walmart as his side of the city redevelops. Today, there is the National Infantry Museum and Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center leading the way to a new image. The National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus also is in place, and Historic Westville is planning its move from Westville, Ga., to the Oxbow Meadows area. Newer hotels have opened on the south side as well, with some of the fast-food restaurants being remodeled with fresh, modern looks.

"I think it's becoming the golden age of south Columbus," Ditchfield said.

The Walmart Supercenter on Victory Drive and the Neighborhood Market on Manchester Expressway aren't the only pieces of the retailer's growth strategy in the city, however.

A second Walmart Neighborhood Market is planned for the Blackmon Road area, just off J.R. Allen Parkway. That 42,000-square-foot grocery store, which is now moving through the process to have the land it will occupy rezoned from "residential estate" to "general commercial," is to be situated on about 6.5 acres of a 35-acre parcel of land owned by Billings, who attracted the supercenter to Gateway Road.

And just like the other Walmart properties, interest among prospective tenants for outparcels and additional retail space adjacent to the Walmart grocery store is beginning to bubble, he said.

"We have some interest already. In fact, they're wanting to go to contract," said Billings, who has to get through the rezoning before he can move forward with any tenants. "They just need to be patient with me. I would love to have them and they're a great addition to what we're trying to do here."

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Victory Drive Walmart could draw more businesses."