Shopping center moguls pump millions into River Region
By David Zaslawsky
McClinton and Company Inc. developed the country's first RAVE Motion Pictures 16-screen theater at the Festival Plaza shopping center in Montgomery.
MONTGOMERY - When Buddy McClinton describes his commercial real estate company he said it's a small firm.
The president of McClinton & Company Inc. is being modest. It may be a small firm with a staff of 20, but there is nothing small about his company. Although he was mum about numbers, McClinton did say that the five projects the company is currently working on total $65 million.
But McClinton and Company are actually working on six projects and that $65 million does not include the largest project they are working on - the 950,000-plus square-foot High Point Town Center in Prattville with Bass Pro Shops and three department stores as anchors. Those six projects are a combined 2 million-plus square feet.
And speaking of big, what about Wal-Mart, the country's largest retailer and McClinton's largest client. McClinton is currently building Wal-Marts at the Midtown Plaza in Montgomery; Hillcrest Center in Millbrook and Chantilly Station in East Montgomery. McClinton told the Central Alabama Business Journal in June 2004 that the 300,000 square-foot Midtown Plaza project would cost between $25 million-$30 million.
Another major client is RAVE Motion Pictures theaters and the company has RAVE-anchored projects at Bayou Plaza in Pensacola, Fla., and at Valley Bend at Jones Farm in Huntsville. Those two projects were on a development basis, where McClinton and Company owns the properties.
McClinton and Company is primarily a development firm. "We are responsible for all the site work, we build the project, we oversee the construction of the project, we own the project, we promote the project, we lease our properties and we finance all our properties," McClinton said.
But the 15½-year-old company also has a brokerage division directed by David McClinton, senior vice president for development and brokerage.
"David has expanded the brokerage division of the company," his father said. "Prior to joining the firm, we were just a development company."
Buddy McClinton said he would like to see his company strike a 50-50 balance between the development and brokerage components over the next 10-15 years. Now the company is 80 percent development and 20 percent brokerage.
David McClinton guided deals with RAVE Motion Pictures in Baton Rouge, La., and Destin, Fla. Those two projects were done on a brokerage basis.
"You are paid a fee to deliver a tenant to another site - that's a pure brokerage deal," David McClinton said. "What we really do is tell (a client) everything that's going on in the marketplace. Then we take them to the market on a trip. We'll look at all the options we think they have and the client will make the call. We will proceed with where they want to be and negotiate the deal."
McClinton and Company is planning to expand the RAVE-anchored Festival Plaza shopping center in Montgomery. Preliminary plans call for one additional outparcel and 60,000 square feet of retail space.
"Festival Plaza has had tremendous success since its opening in December of 2000," David McClinton told the Montgomery Advertiser. "We look for the growth in East Montgomery to continue and are excited to have a top-notch location in such a great area of the city."
The company will also expand the Wal-Mart-anchored Premiere Place shopping center in Prattville. Buddy McClinton said that Belk will add 20,000 square feet, bringing the department store's total to 75,000 square feet. Other preliminary plans are adding 35,000 square feet of retail space to the shopping center and two more outparcels.
It's obvious that Buddy McClinton is bullish on Central Alabama, which has benefited from the thousands of jobs created by Korean automaker Hyundai and its suppliers.
"All of these outlying areas are feeding into this Central Alabama core because this is where the job center is. They come here, they work, they earn their money and when they are on their way home, we want to be able to give them convenient, quality shopping atmosphere and opportunities.
"And that's why we are working east with Chantilly; we are working midtown with Ann Street and we are working north in Prattville and Millbrook."
McClinton and Company is also looking at Lee County. "There is nothing we want to announce right now, but we like Lee County a lot and it is a great growth market."
Buddy McClinton said the area's only drawback is a shortage of land for large developments.
Land was not problem in Prattville, where the High Point Town Center is being developed on a 140-acre site. That will enable the shopping center to meet the needs of any customer and for Buddy McClinton it's all about synergy.
"It's all about trying to put as many components as you can that can satisfy as many of the wants and desires of customers as you possibly can. That's what we will be doing at High Point Town Center - we will have all of the different types of components whether it be Bass Pro or traditional department stores, bookstores, clothing stores and electronics stores."
But just as important as shopping is eating.
"Restaurants are not only important to us, but the tenants are finding the restaurants to be important," David McClinton said. "They really want that element of family sit-down dining as part of the center. They know it brings people there, keeps them for a while and gives them an extra shot of shopping at their store. It is literally a co-tenancy requirement for some (retailers)."
Of course to feed those appetites you need a variety of restaurants and Buddy McClinton promises that all patrons will find a restaurant to their liking at High Point Town Center.
"We will go from the highest-priced points to the middle-price points," he said. "We will go from the finest-quality steak that you could possibly have to the best hamburger you could possibly have."
Location has always been the key factor in real estate and interstate access is vital for shopping centers. That's why Prattville and Millbrook are prime regions along with Greenville and Auburn-Opelika.
"If you have quality, convenient shopping with good selections along that interstate network, you are going to have a great chance to be successful," Buddy McClinton said.
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