Aldi, Park Row revamp part of Pantego plans
Surrounded by Arlington, little Pantego – its 2,350 residents occupying all of two square landlocked miles – doesn’t make much of a splash in the economic development scene. But that may be changing.
Here the city taxes are low and what city services there are tend to be efficient; a 911 call usually means police show up in less than 60 seconds. With only a couple of square miles to worry about, a squad car is never far away.
Incorporated in the early 1950s mainly to keep booming Arlington from swallowing it up, housing here is upper middle class. And there’s a fair amount of retail business, particularly on Park Row and Pioneer Boulevard. Sales tax revenue helps keep the municipal tax rate at about half that of neighboring Arlington, though to tell the truth, things have been a bit static the last decade. Or maybe the last couple of decades.
The town actually lost about 1 percent of its population from 1990 to 2000, and the best estimate is that it may have gained that same 1 percent back this decade. Pretty much the same thing can be said for its business establishments, the reality being that lots – as in most – of Pantego business comes from Arlington residents. And as Arlington has spread outward so has much of the city’s spending at places like The Parks Mall or the Highlands.
That’s why the Pantego Economic Development Corp. was created in 1993, funded by a quarter-cent sales tax that generates about half a million dollars annually. Cities under 20,000 population have considerably more leeway in how such funds are spent than their larger counterparts, which is why some of Pantego’s economic development dollars were invested in quality of life considerations like the town’s nifty little park. Or a revamped municipal building.
“We’ve made some revitalization grants to businesses as well,” said Bill Brown, a retired computer programmer who also happens to be the current chair of the PEDC, as well as something of a non-governmental minority on the board. “But this is an arena we’re becoming much more active in.”
Specifically, Brown said the PEDC has made four revitalization grants, mostly for revamping store facades and parking lots, the grants running from $10,000 to $50,000.
The six-member PEDC board has four Pantego council members on it and its executive director is Doug Davis, the Pantego city manager. So though the entity is technically a nonprofit corporation, in actuality it functions more along the lines of a city commission. One with cash.
The PEDC sunsets – disappears unless voters renew it – in 2022, but before then the organization would like to make more of a splash on the economic development front, becoming more proactive in the process.
Pantego is a Caddo Indian word that loosely translates to “stalking wolf,” a name that would imply some level of municipal aggressiveness. In this case the stalking is for more business development and greater sense of place for the town.
The most obvious evidence of this intent is a new Aldi Group grocery under construction at the northeast corner of Park Row and Bowen Road. The 16,000-square-foot store is one of eight scheduled to open in the Metroplex, its presence in Pantego aided by a $150,000 economic development grant from the PEDC. The project required demolition of a once prosperous but fading retail and office complex.
“We were really one of the first communities they approached,” Davis said. “It’s not a big store but they do a lot of volume.”
Aldi, owned by a German family, is the leading grocer in that county and has about 9,000 stores worldwide, including about 1,000 in the U.S. It offers a limited assortment of about 1,400 items compared to, for example, the more than 30,000 items offered by the Tom Thumb across the street from the new Aldi. Across-the-street, by the way, would be Arlington. In retail-speak, Aldi is a pack-it-high, sell-it-cheap-in-volume hard discounter.
Brown said the PEDC would continue to be more aggressive in its economic development activities. But the next big project could be a harder sell.
The PEDC is studying the possibility of revamping a four-block section of Park Row east from Bowen, revamping including a more formal and obvious entrance way along with a rebuild of the road that would include a median, landscaping and – in concept at least – a small park.
“I think it’s (the Park Row project) another indication that we’re serious about economic development in our town,” Brown said.
There’s also the possibility of a hotel with conference facilities. The PEDC already has invested $112,000 in a concept and engineering study. An $800,000 development grant also has been applied for.
“We think the Park Row project would give us a kind of Main Street feel and a more unique identity,” Davis said.
If the project flies – a considerable number of affected merchants have expressed skepticism – the area would become much more pedestrian oriented as well as create something of a brand for Pantego.
It’ll have to be sold to people like Dwayne Lee, owner of Southern Flair Photographer and also a founder of the growing Pantego Business Alliance. While Lee believes the Bowen-Park Row intersection is in need of a facelift and he believes city gateway idea is a good one, he doesn’t endorse the Park Row revamp. Particularly the median.
“Most of the business owners along Park Row are thoroughly opposed to the planned median,” he said. “While the intention may be admirable in making a distinction when arriving in Pantego, the proposed gateway arch has received significantly more wide-spread approval and support.”
The project would require a public hearing before approval; that hearing most likely not occurring until early next year.
okcarter@bizpress.net
