River Cities Business Journal: Cover Story

BULLHEAD CITY - Announcements will be made within a week regarding as many as six more retailers going into the Mohave Crossroads shopping center, according to Josh Utterback of Mohave Crossroads LLC.

A major portion of the shopping center, located at 3699 Highway 95 near the southern end of the Bullhead Parkway, will be sold to Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors, with the sale closing June 1, Utterback said.

His company will retain approximately 20 acres in the northwestern portion, with the remaining 66 acres going to the publicly traded Weingarten.

“They're one of the top 10 real estate investment trusts in the nation, so they're very large,” Utterback said. “They're also known to be one of the most - if not the most - conservative real estate investment trusts and they only do properties that they know are solid properties that are going to remain leased and remain profitable,” he said. “They've got plenty of manpower to finish this project and do it well.”

Utterback's company will continue its involvement in the project, including overseeing the construction of the Bullhead Parkway extension across Highway 95 into the shopping center.

“We'll have some say in the types of retailers and we also have some agreements with some of the potential tenants we're going to be recruiting,” Utterback said. “We'll still be active and involved.”

He said he's not worried over any confusion between Mohave Crossroads and Mojave Crossing, an event center and casino on tribal land across the river from the Avi Resort and Casino.

“We're not concerned about that. We're a retail development. I think most people will understand the difference,” Utterback said.

The shopping center is currently being wired for electricity and construction will begin on the Target building June 8, Utterback said. The store will open next March.

Anyone hoping for a “SuperTarget” store will be disappointed. The store will not be selling a full line of groceries and never will, according to Utterback, because the configuration of the store would not allow them to add a supermarket.

And don't expect to see any supermarket at Mohave Crossroads, he said. “This is just a retail and soft goods-type focus.”

The Daily News has learned that Kmart's Real Estate Research and Information department at its corporate office in Royal Oak, Mich., is researching Target's location and schedule for opening, though Utterback said, “Right now we really haven't been in discussions with them.”