Ground broken for Clemson Corner Shopping Center

If all goes according to schedule, Frederick will have a Wegmans supermarket by spring 2011.

Ground was broken Wednesday for the $29.5 million Clemson Corner shopping center, a 37-acre project off Md. 26 and Worman's Mill Road. It will include Wegmans, Lowe's and Marshall's, as well as a Wachovia Bank branch and space for smaller retailers.

"It has been challenging," said Howard Biel, senior managing director, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Retail Development, for Faison Enterprises.

The project began in 2004, Biel said, and though long in the planning stages, he thanked the city and county for their cooperation.

The property was annexed into the city last year and final purchase of the land from the Clemson family was made in August.

Biel said that following completion of a development in Washington County, North Carolina-based Faison and Baltimore-based Atapco Properties decided on a 50-50 joint venture in Frederick County.

"We searched for the best site for a quality retail center," Biel said. "Faison would not do a project without quality anchors, and we have them in Wegmans, Lowe's and Marshall's."

Patrick Coggins, vice president for development for Atapco, noted Frederick 's amenities including high-quality schools, a revitalized downtown and historic ambience.

Frederick Mayor Jeff Holtzinger said water service was a major factor in the final planning of the project. He said the city and county had cooperated to move the project along, even with a longer annexation process.

"This is a great development," Holtzinger said. "It will enhance revenue without the need for services, as is the case with other types of development."

Biel, who works from Faison's Bethesda office, said neither Frederick nor the state has had many groundbreakings recently. This was the first annexation into the city in a decade.

James Castillo, director of retail development for Faison, said the stores at Clemson Corner will bring in customers, "and it will increase as the economy improves."

Wegmans will have a 140,000-square-foot store at Clemson Corner. The company has been rated best supermarket by Consumer Reports, and has received high ratings as one of the five best places to work by other publications.

Castillo said the project will create 150 construction jobs for the 18-month project and about 1,100 jobs once the shopping center's stores are opened.

Faison, launched in the 1960s, has about $1 billion in retail, commercial and residential development in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.

Atapco traces its roots to the founding of American Oil Co. (Amoco) in the early 1900s and the formation of American Trading and Production Corp. in 1931. It has holdings and developments in seven states.

Copyright 2009 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.