A new development to be called Southwest Commercial Park is planned for an open field on Dickinson Avenue Extension across from Pleasure Ride Auto.

Don Southerland of Aldridge & Southerland, which is representing a local group of investors, said the development "would accommodate those that need flex space" on 19 commercial lots ranging from .9 acres to 2.5 acres. The property is zoned commercial and has water and sewer. Southerland said plans also called for streets with curbs and gutters.

Mike Grizzard/The Daily Reflector (ENLARGE)

A new development to be called Southwest Commercial Park is planned for an open field on Dickinson Avenue Extension across from Pleasure Ride Auto.

"The owners are going to reserve the right to approve people's plans and their uses out there," Southerland said. "They want to try to make a very neat and clean commercial-type park. It's not going to be so much as retail as it is for individual business owners. We could have some retail, but it will be a minimal amount of that. That's what the plan is, but you never know exactly how it will end up depending on what kind of response we get there."

Southerland said road-front lots will be the first developed.

"We've got three lots that we can sell off the road frontage right now, and the deal is to maybe get a little money off those sales and then put the streets in without having to come up with upfront money other than the purchase of the land," he said.

Southerland said another smaller project on Fire Tower Road is on hold for now. He plans to develop another strip center with five 2,000-square-foot units beside Firetower Shoppes but said he wants to pre-lease at least two units before proceeding.

"I've got sort of a promise on one, and I just need to get a commitment on another one," Southerland said. "We built that other building with no commitments and rented them all by just about the time we got it finished."

Old Ragazzi's

BrodyCo has begun the development of a group of small shops at the site of the former Ragazzi's restaurant on Greenville Boulevard. H.J. Brody, president of BrodyCo, said the shops will be designed with one side facing Greenville Boulevard and another side facing Evans Street, two of Greenville's busiest thoroughfares.

The Ragazzi's building has been razed, and site work for the new shops is under way.

"It will be just a group of small shops that will be in there, more community-driven, with a mixture between regional and local community and maybe smaller national tenants," Brody said. "We have got a lot of interest in that site. It's a good location with exposure on both sides, nobody I can really announce right now, but we've got a lot of good interest there."

Business bits

The Martin County Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual dinner on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Sen. Bob Martin Eastern Agricultural Center. Richard Rogers, executive director for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, is the scheduled featured speaker. The county's Small Business Person of the Year will be announced.

Eastern Carolina Vocational Center will host a floating open house on Thursday from 2-6 p.m. at its new facility at 2100 N. Greene St. Facility tours will be provided from 2-3:45 p.m.

Better Built Kitchens on Mill Street in Winterville, a branch of Better Built Cabinets, has closed. Better Built Cabinets, founded in 2000 in Winterville, has launched a new Web site (www.betterbuiltcabinetsinc.com) with a virtual showroom.

Overton's at 111 Red Banks Road will host its biannual Eastern North Carolina Boat Show beginning today with more than 100,000 square feet of display space. Show hours are noon to 6 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.