Construction nearing completion on Tenaya Way parcel

jenna dosch/viewA new office and retail complex at 4430-4450 N. Tenaya Way is scheduled to be completed this month. Architectural details on the two-story complex, which will have a Quiznos Sub Sandwich Shop, Papa John’s Pizza and an Indian-Thai eatery, include copper roofs and stucco walls. Advertisement

It started. It stopped. It started again. Then it stopped again.

The developers no longer have to scratch their heads and wonder whether their parcel at northwest corner of Craig Road and U.S. Highway 95, which they bought in late 2005, will ever be developed. The site, at 4430-4450 N. Tenaya Way, now sports a two-story building that is nearing completion.

The owners, Shree Ganesha Inc., plan to open it later this month. It will offer neighborhood services types of businesses, said Kam Patel, who, along with his brother, Raj, oversees the project.

The project had a couple of setbacks, developers said, which is the reason it took a while to come to fruition.

When the family-owned Shree Ganesha Inc. acquired the 3.4-acre parcel in 2005, Kam Patel said, it expected to immediately construct the commercial building on it without a problem. But the city and Federal Emergency Management Agency required extensive research as the parcel is in a flood zone, he said, and the process took a year and a half.

By that time, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina caused a sudden building material shortage.

"We had to re-budget for the project," Kam Patel said. "The cost of steel and concrete, of everything, went up by 25 percent."

After that, the country was rocked by soaring gas prices.

"When we purchased the land, it was a different economy," Patel said. "It was a double whammy."

But Shree Ganesha plans to finish the 48,000-square-foot building and have it opened by the end of July, he said.

The two-story structure has a rotunda entryway containing about two dozen units, which can be as small as 750 square feet.

The exact number of units will not be known, developers said, until more businesses lease space. Currently, Kam Patel said, 40 percent of the building is leased.

The largest unit is 7,500 square feet and is expected to be occupied by a full-service restaurant, although no details were available.

Businesses that have formally committed to the new location include Quiznos Sub Sandwich Shop, a small Indian-Thai eatery and Papa John's Pizza, the developer said. A drive-through configuration is roughed in and might be taken by a coffee business, Kam Patel said, a competitor to the Starbucks that's already established across the street.

Residents in the area have been waiting for the development to be completed, too. But there was confusion about what should go in there.

Colleen Infuso, an office manager, drew a blank because she "always thought it was going to be office space. That's what I heard."

Rob Hunt, an attorney, said he'd like to see a place that offered haircuts "and a bookstore would be nice," he said. "I don't want to see anything with slots or video poker or anything along those lines."

His wife, Michelle Hunt, a management assistant, said she'd like it if a Chick-fil-A, a chicken-based, fast-food chain, opened there.

"I know what our boys would like -- a place like a Game Stop or a bike shop or skate shop," she added.

Kam Patel said he wants to offer businesses that people need.

"Right now, we have a nail salon and a dog grooming place that are interested," he said, adding that the building "will complement the neighborhood and serve their needs."