Getting quality tenants into Bartlett’s empty commercial retail spaces is a top priority, and a challenge, for the city’s new administration.

The vacant spots can be seen as opportunities for new businesses, but in the meantime, the locations become eyesores, especially if they last for extended periods. While owners of the vacant bays aggressively try and market the vacancies, Bartlett officials are trying to come up with a strategy to help with the effort.

The largest bay at Stage Centre on the northwest corner of Stage and Kirby Whitten has sat empty for more than 16 years. Patty Bullock, senior vice president for Gill Properties, says interest in the 57,000-square-foot space has grown recently.

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“I’ve had people who were interested in dividing it, so I was putting out proposals. And then I had somebody else come along that I really would like that would take the entire space,” Bullock said. “It’s a tenant that any landlord would love to have.”

Bullock declined to say more about the potential occupant until a deal is final.

Over the years, Saint Francis Hospital along with some retailers showed interest in the location, which was formerly a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but ultimately things did not work out. A recurring problem was potential tenants opting for locations closer to the Wolfchase Mall to the east at Germantown Parkway.

The Stage Centre site is not zoned for businesses that sell second-hand items, which eliminates businesses like an antique stores or something similar.

“But that’s not where our primary focus really is anyway,” Bullock said. “We’d like to get a tenant in there that is selling new inventory. That’s going to be specific and cater to the market, and I do think if we’re able to work out terms that we’ve got that company.”

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At one point before the pandemic, Gill officials hoped to land a family entertainment tenant like a trampoline facility in the large space.

“Overall, if we get this anchor space leased out, life is good, and everyone will be happier,” Bullock said. “If we get this lease, we have some vacant land there that we would love to build another 20,000 feet or so and get another box in.”

That grassy piece of undeveloped property sits between two of the strip center’s buildings, and an expansion would connect them into one. The Stage Centre also has an available freestanding out parcel building that previously was a Back Yard Burgers restaurant, as well as a 2,400-square-foot space.

News of a tenant coming to Stage Centre would please new Bartlett Mayor David Parsons, who wants to see the city’s vacant commercial spaces occupied.

Parsons and his team have met multiple times with the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce staff since he took office at the first of the year to explore ways to reduce the city’s 3% retail vacancy.

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“We’re looking to try to get some help, and (that person) will do nothing but look at filling in that 3%,” said Parsons, who stressed that the hiring would be a joint venture between the suburb and the chamber and not necessarily a city employee.

John Threadgill, president of the Bartlett chamber, is intrigued by the possibility of a tenant finally occupying the large space at Stage Centre.

“Of course, the biggest single empty space in Bartlett is at the Gill property, so if you fill that space, the vacancy rate in the city would go way down,” said Threadgill, who noted that most Bartlett retail spaces are under 5,000 square feet.

City officials would also like to see a new restaurant move into the freestanding building at 6815 Stage Road near Summer Avenue, previously the site of a Mexican eatery. The location is across the street from the proposed Union Depot mixed-use development, enhancing the location’s benefits. 

NAI Saig Co. has a couple of smaller commercial vacancies becoming available in the next 30 days on U.S. 64 in the Stage Collection Center close to Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett. The bays will measure 1,800 and 1,500 square feet.

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“Anything on Stage Road does pretty well. Anything that’s small shop space that faces the main street always stays pretty full,” Brian Califf, NAI Saig executive vice president, said.

His company is fully leased at the Bartlett Station retail center in the 5700 block of Stage Road as well as the Bartlett Hills retail center at Elmore Park Road and Stage.

“We like Bartlett as far as investing there,” Califf said. “And we’ve had really good luck leasing a lot of properties up and down Stage.”