Franklin’s Town Council has approved a water and sewer reallocation request for the Holly Springs Plaza shopping center, apparently paving the way for construction of an Ingles superstore.
The shopping center off US 441 Bypass was previously anchored by a now-vacant Walmart store and is the site of an existing Ingles store, Papa’s Pizza to Go and Win Nails salon. Other storefronts in the complex are vacant.
John Cox of Land Planning Associates made the reallocation request in a letter to town engineer Nathanael Moore. Cox said that Ingles Markets, Inc., owner of the shopping center, is interested in revitalizing the shopping center.
No concrete plans or a timeline for a new Ingles store have been revealed yet.
“It’s really too early to discuss anything beyond what is in the allocation requests, said Ingles chief financial officer Ron Freeman in an email to The Franklin Press. “We hope the municipal process continues to run smoothly so we can discuss more in the future.”
“Ingles Markets, Inc. has proposed to redevelop their existing shopping center at the Holly Springs Plaza,” Cox said in the letter. “The redevelopment will create a rework of the existing square footage on the site as well as the current uses of each building. Land Planning Associates of NC, Inc. has analyzed each building and given a daily and instantaneous domestic water demand, a fire demand and the potential sewer flow for the development.”
Cox’s breakdown of the water and sewer allocations explicitly mentions an Ingles grocery store, an Ingles Gas Express, a future outparcel, 5,000 square feet of restaurant space and 118,342 square feet of retail space, indicating that the redevelopment has the potential to accommodate multiple new businesses.
Council members unanimously approved the reallocation without debate.
Vice mayor Barbara McRae said she is optimistic about the potential for a new Ingles in the mold of the Georgia Road location.
“You can tell that they didn’t expect the kind of business that they’re seeing there,” McRae said. “I think they knew it would be busy when they first opened up but they thought it would die down. Even now, sometimes it’s hard to find a parking space.”
Council member Mike Lewis voiced his support for putting the currently empty storefronts in the shopping center to good use.
“I’m sure if they put a new store in there, it will create a lot of jobs,” Lewis said. “That can’t be a bad thing in my eyes.”
Tommy Jenkins, director of Macon County’s Economic Development Commission, said the redevelopment has the potential to benefit workers all over the county. He said demand must be high for new shops in the space if Ingles is considering it, and that the additional restaurant and retail space stand to create lots of new opportunities.
“That shopping center is the prime development piece of property along US 441,” Jenkins said. “If this comes to pass, there’s sure to be a lot of economic spinoff in the form of new jobs.”