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FIRST TENANTS OPEN DOORS IN S. OLIVE TOWER CENTER

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, July 17, 2009 8:05 AM CDT

Four offices that make up the Armed Forces Career Center opened for business Thursday in the new Tower Center off South Olive Street and north of Interstate 530, just west of the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Representatives of four military recruiting offices — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — gathered in front of the center to cut a ribbon along with guests including representatives from the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce. Special to The Commercial/Rusty Reid

Representatives of four military recruiting offices — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — gathered in front of the center to cut a ribbon along with guests including representatives from the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce.

“On behalf of the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, we want to welcome you to this facility,” said Janet Ball, chair of the chamber’s Red Coats. “Congratulations.”

Previous location

The center was previously located in The Pines mall. Everyone present at the ceremony commented on how the South Olive area is seeing the most growth in the city, and how the location would make the recruiting offices more visible and bring in more traffic.

“I think the location is good,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Romero, commander of the 345th Recruiting Squadron, which is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill. “As you can see, it’s just new around here.”

Romero said being located in the mall was “tough.”

Constraining factors

“From what we could see, the amount of young folks coming out to the mall was lower and we were in an area that we didn’t have a lot of control over,” he said, explaining that the offices were constrained by hours and other items set by management.

Staff Sgt. Tariq Miller, station commander for the Army recruiting center, said being in the new location will “definitely increase Army awareness.”

Marine Staff Sgt. Chris Jackson said increasing that awareness could change lives.

“Whenever a Marine comes back to the community, they come back as a very, very productive member of society,” he said. “It really opens up a lot of other doors for you.”

Owner onhand

Property owner Roger Dadlani of Pine Bluff, who purchased the lot in 2006, also was on hand for the opening. He described the area as “one of the best locations in Pine Bluff as far as growth.”

“The most exciting thing is that these recruiters cover all of those people in Southeast Arkansas,” said Ann Williams, co-director of the chamber. “While they’re here they’re going to eat, they’re going to shop and it will be a real benefit to Pine Bluff.”

NC1 Natalie Brown, recruiter in charge for the Navy office, agreed.

“They know where we are — everyone shops at Wal-Mart,” she said.

Dadlani said he had been working on development of the Tower Center for about a year, starting with courting the Armed Forces Career Center as the first tenants.

“I’m happy,” Dadlani said of the project’s progress. “This is good for Pine Bluff. It shows that people still want to stay here, still want to do things for the city and they’re not trying to move away.”

Dadlani said he did not know when the restaurant being constructed on the other end of the strip mall planned to open.

Restaurant permit

The city inspection and zoning office confirmed that owner Chen Wen Yan had applied for a permit in May to spend $52,000 remodeling a four-suite space for a restaurant called Chef’s Lee.

There is one other vacant space in the Tower Center.

“We have had plenty of interest but nobody has yet confirmed,” Dadlani said.

He said he owns no other properties in the city.

The Tower Center’s physical address is 502 Mallard Loop. It sits on a 57,898-square-foot lot. Construction began in November by Sutliff Construction of Pine Bluff. The shopping center has an estimated value of $1 million, according to Robert Tucker, director of inspection and zoning for Pine Bluff.

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