HARLINGEN — Chicken sandwiches? Check. Doughnuts? On the way.
Dunkin Donuts, along with a new AT&T store, is expected to join the new Chik-fil-A restaurant at Sun Valley Square at 1900 77 Sunshine Strip.
Local real estate agent Cindy Hopkins of Cindy Hopkins Commercial Real Estate confirmed documents and plans for the site’s development.
“Initially, they were looking at a Wal-Mart as an anchor there,” said Hopkins, adding she had no hand in the deal but is knowledgeable about efforts to add businesses to the site by the firm Lockard Development Inc.
“In the meantime, AT&T had approached them about their property, as well as Dunkin Donuts,” Hopkins said. “So they just decided to do a build-to-suit, build it, and lease it to AT&T and Dunkin Donuts.”
Hopkins said both AT&T and Dunkin Donuts have been seeking appropriate retail sites in Harlingen, and Sun Valley Square apparently will fill the bill of what they need.
“I’m not sure when construction is going to begin, or when they’re going to open,” Hopkins added.
Chik-fil-A, Dunkin Donuts and AT&T would fill more than one-third of the site’s available 8.5 acres, with another 4.7 acres on two pads still available. The property is where the Sun Valley Motor Hotel was located.
Dunkin Donuts operates two restaurants in Brownsville, as well as restaurants in Pharr and Edinburg.
A spokesperson for Lockard Development said yesterday that no leases have yet been signed with Dunkin Donuts or AT&T, and deferred comment until they are officially on board.
Lockard Development, based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, has a big footprint nationwide and also in South Texas.
It is developing the new Outlets at Corpus Christi Bay near Robstown, a shopping mall similar to Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets in Mercedes.
The Robstown development has commitments from six major retailers and hopes to add 75 more to the site, which is expected to have a grand opening in March.
