A two-year effort to find tenants for a pair of sprawling supermarket buildings in Oil City has paid off with the addition of another business to the mix.
David Brody, a Pittsburgh developer, said his company has signed a lease with Advance Auto Parts for a 7,000-square-foot area in the former Thorne’s Market in the city’s East End.
It is adjacent to the new Goodwill Industries’ retail, distribution and training center that occupies the bulk of the former supermarket area.
The auto parts store is expected to open in four months.
The addition of Advance Auto brings nearly full occupancy to two former Thorne’s Markets – one on East Second Street and the other on Grandview Road – that had been vacant since closing in November 2016.
In addition, overall renovations to the pair of buildings plus an adjacent office building have added nearly $1 million in new construction for the city over the past several months.
On the South Side
The former Thorne’s Market, previously called Riverside Market and Bi-Lo and located on East Second Street, closed in the fall of 2016. The building owner, BSP Associates of Pittsburgh, signed a lease with Goodwill in May 2018 and the business opened in October.
A $522,000 renovation project at the building marked one of the largest construction projects in Oil City in several years.
On the North Side
Brody, a principal in Seneca Realty that manages and developed the two former supermarket properties, also worked to fill the former Thorne’s Market in the city’s Hasson Heights neighborhood. The market closed in November 2016.
The Family Dollar Store opened in part of the grocery store in December 2017 after a $47,500 renovation project.
The Hasson Heights property, owned by MB Grandview LLC, still has one vacant area.
Adjacent to the Family Dollar building is another property that has, under Brody’s business enterprises, a new tenant.
Primary Health Network at 811 Grandview Road will open soon in the former Twin Creeks Head Start Center. The building, constructed as a Prudential Life Insurance office, is undergoing $398,000 in interior renovations.
Leasing goal is reached
Brody has an extensive track record in Venango County for redeveloping commercial sites. His projects include the CVS drugstore in Oil City, the Sheetz convenience store and the Towne Center Shopping Plaza, both in Sugarcreek, and other smaller developments.
Finding tenants for the former Thorne markets in Oil City became a priority, said Brody.
“In the last two and a half years, we have completely re-leased the Thorne’s Market buildings and the former Head Start building,” said Brody. “The main thing was to get those former markets filled with good quality tenants. And these are all regional and national tenants in there.”
