Chain Lake Place to be statement of local success

Larry Gibson says despite being one the first tenants to locate in Bayers Lake when the retail giant was still in its infancy, he often feels invisible.

Gibsons company, Floors Plus, is small in comparison to the big box retailers just 5,400 sq.ft. so he wants to expand and make his operation more visible, but theres a hitch: he has nowhere to go.

The park has become more congested and everything is so much of a blur that even if we rented a roadside sign and said the flooring was free, no one would know, Gibson says.

So he is taking matters into his own hands. Gibson, along with a silent partner, is using another one of his operations, Perry Lake Developments, to build a new retail facility that he believes will stand out from the crowd and set the new standard for multi-tenant buildings in Bayers Lake.

I think its important to be accessible and close to a shopping mecca, but you dont have to be buried in one, Gibson says. All these other buildings look like concrete landing strips and you cant tell one from another. We want to offer customers the opportunity to see fashion for the home without them having to walk 10 minutes through a parking clogged with hot dog and hamburger sellers.

Gibsons project, known as Chain Lake Place, is further down Chain Lake Drive from the main strip. In order to draw customers the extra distance, he is investing in greater architectural detail for the building and improved landscaping and parking lot design to make visiting customers as comfortable as possible.

The building will feature recessed storefronts with overhangs, multiple colour schemes, rounded corners, recessed lighting and a wrapped design that takes the look all the way around the structure rather than just on the facade. The parking area will include both open and enclosed bicycle storage areas for those who use alternative transportation.

All these features probably only added five to 10 per cent to the cost of the building, Gibson says. Spread over 20 to 30 years that cost become minute. We still plan on offering lease rates that are 20 to 30 per cent less than other locations in the same area.

The building will offer up to 90,000 sq.ft. of leasable space. Floors Plus will occupy 25 per cent of that, with the silent partner taking up another 25 per cent. The rest will be leased to other local companies in the home fashion sector.

Staying local is important to Gibson. His business interests, which include Install-A-Flor and Burnside Floors Plus, use all local staff and installers and he prides himself on giving back to the community in which he does business.

In the 18 years my company has operated, it has paid out $70 million for services and wages not bad for a Mom and Pop operation. We did it with the support of local businesses and local residents. So Chain Lake Place is a bit of a statement. It doesnt come from Toronto corporate dollars. It doesnt come from foreign investment. It comes from business opportunities given to us locally, Gibson says.

Gibson says he expects the project to be fully leased by the time it opens in May.