Product display at Teter’s Faucet Parts. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)
It was a bowling alley and then a plumbing parts store; now it’s worth a fortune.
The 6,200-square-foot building that houses Teter’s Faucet Parts on Oram appears to be for sale. Rumors that the building is under contract have been flying throughout the neighborhood for months. And today, soil testing was being done on the site, a sign that a sale could be pending.
When asked, owner Jack Teter said: “Well, sure, there’s some negotiating going on.”
We reported in July that Teter, 69, thinks his 81-year-old family business has become out of place in shop-centric Lakewood.
“I don’t really belong here,” Teter told us this summer. “This should be retail.”
Commercial real estate experts believe the property, built as Lakewood Lanes sometime around the early 1940s, could be worth as much as $6 million.
If a developer buys it, it appears that a five-story building with a mix of shops, offices, restaurants or apartments could be developed, based on the current zoning.
Neighboring businessman Kert Platner, who owns Times Ten Cellars and recently purchased the dental office nearby, says he heard that apartments were coming to the Teter’s site, a rumor that Jack Teter brushed off without offering further clarification.
We’ll keep looking into the issue and report back when we learn more.
Nichole Osinski contributed to the reporting of this post.
