Retail developers disagree over the current state of I-5 growth

As the development proposal for the retail center at Interstate 5 at Knighton road proceeds through county planning phases, another developer and landowner claims that retail interest is stagnant.

"It (the poor economy) hasn't slowed speculation, but it certainly has slowed building activity," Regional Transportation Planning Agency Executive Director Dan Little said.

"Yes, there may be several developments moving forward on paper, but no one is going to have a project for a very long time," said Paul Petrovich, landowner of 11 acres of frontage property on Riverside Drive. "We continue to search for anchor tenants of which there are none for either site. Retail is driven by tenants, not by developers. If they are so hell-bent on building at Knighton, they ought to come down and buy my piece since it's zoned and ready to go."

"We have water, sewer and we are ready to bring a storm drain to it," Anderson Planning Director John Stokes said of the infrastructure to Petrovich's property. "It is prepared to go."

"Real estate is location, location, location. Just because you throw money at something, you still have to have something a retailer wants," said Paul Stephens in a separate interview. Stephens is a development partner for Hawkins Companies: the company in charge of development of the I-5 and Knighton Road parcel.

Stephens differed with Petrovich in separate interviews whether growth along I-5 is currently stagnant, citing Wal-Mart and Target as two companies still "making deals."

"It's pretty quiet. There is not a lot of growth, but if someone has the financing in the slow time, the low construction costs will be in their benefit," Shasta County Assistant Director of Resource Management Rick Simon said.

Six acres of the county property for the Knighton Rd. development are zoned commercial.

"We have not sought to have development come to that area," Simon said, noting that the Hawkins Company proposition was the third development proposal for the Knighton Road location.

The southeast corner of I-5 and Riverside Drive interchange in Anderson was targeted by City of Anderson as a location for development during the city's general plan update in 2007. Business investments on either site qualify for various tax credits for Shasta Metro Enterprise Zone credits through Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County.