With housing sprouting all around Legacy Park, the developer of Verdae think it’s time to put up another commercial building, this time with space for a restaurant. Rick Sumerel, president of Verdae Development, the company overseeing the master plan for 1,100 acres along Verdae Boulevard, said nearly 675 housing units of various kinds are occupied, under construction or planned around the 20-acre public park along Rocky Slope Road. The area has reached “critical mass,” paving the way for more commercial space, Sumerel said. Toward that end, Verdae Development has broken ground on a three-story, 22,000-square-foot building next to the park. It will join 21,000 square feet of existing commercial space that houses Holiday Dental, property management firm N&H Enterprises, a YMCA branch and Sumerel’s own offices.
Two Greenville companies – KDS Commercial Properties and Caldwell Constructors, which is erecting the new building – will take space in the new building when it opens, probably at the end of June, Sumerel said. Now he’s looking for a restaurant to move into the ground floor. “We want somebody who wants to take advantage of the outdoor seating we have,” he said. A restaurateur would have a ready-made customer base in the growing number of residents who live around the park and the people who come to the park for family activities such as weddings or birthday parties, Sumerel said. He said more customers could come from numerous nearby offices along Verdae Boulevard.