My August magazine column will look at Lincoln Property’s plans – or lack of same – for the Lakewood YMCA location and the mostly empty shopping center across the street at the intersection of Gaston, Garland and East Grand. Frankly, I expected more, and the neighborhood deserves more, than the mini-Timbercreek that Lincoln wants to build. The world does not need yet another strip shopping center, especially when Lincoln will ask the city to help pay for it.
Having said that, Lincoln stands a chance of upgrading the project to something more than another Tom Thumb center if it brings in a top-notch supermarket to anchor the development. At least one Lincoln leasing agent is reportedly telling potential tenants that the grocer will be HEB, which has started moving into the Dallas area. I have called HEB for comment, but since they usually decline to comment about these things, don’t expect much on that end. As for Lincoln, they still haven’t called back from last week’s call asking for information for the column.
And, finally, this, from Lincoln’s announcement when it bought the Lakewood shopping center last summer: “We are working on some plans to do some exterior remodeling. We have no big, earth-shattering plans.” Which is a far cry from the game of tenant musical chairs they plan on playing, moving Lakewood merchants to Gaston/Garland/East Grand to make room for new tenants at Lakewood.
