New development will cater to small and start-up businesses

WASILLA — Corporations have a reputation of looking out for No. 1. A new commerce center under construction near downtown promises to bolster smaller businesses as well.

Western Enterprises is building its City Center Commerce Park at 610 S. Knik-Goose Bay Road on a 12-acre parcel that will eventually be home to eight structures about 17,000 square feet each, said Jim Faiks, chairmen for Western Enterprises. Quzinkie Native Corp. and other partners are also involved with the development. The buildings will house a variety of businesses and offer office and warehouse space.

“We try to make a building as flexible as possible to accommodate different businesses,” Faiks said.

Each building starts with 12 main units, which includes office space in the front and warehouse space in the rear, Faiks said. The space is also flexible to meet the needs of various tenants. For example, if a tenant needs a larger space a crew could come in and take a wall down between units. Also, if a smaller area is needed, tenants can choose from 700 square feet of office space or 700 square feet of warehouse.

“Our objective is to help make [our tenants] as successful as possible,” he said.

The flexibility of the building provides a good place for small business to start their operations, Faiks said. While a new business may start small, as it increases operations its space in the building can grow with it.

“We accommodate the ups and downs of businesses,” Faiks said.

Western Enterprises is based out of Anchorage and has experience building, maintaining and managing structures in the Mat-Su Valley, Faiks said. The corporation also owns the Westside Center along the Parks Highway and the Meridian Center across from Wal-Mart.

Although the corporation hails from Anchorage, most of the 50 crew members working on the new development are hired locally, said Butch Frank, Western Enterprises superintendent.

“A lot of the subcontractors are local,” Frank said. “And Western has pretty high standards for subcontractors.”

Two of the eight buildings are now under construction, Frank said. One building is scheduled for completion in two weeks and the other will be ready by the end of October.

Contact Chris Gillow at 352-2284 or chris.gillow@frontiersman.com.