Over the several years, I have been asked many questions about real estate, Loveland, Centerra & High Plains Village. The most common questions that I get (particularly from High Plains residents) is when will we get a grocery store in or near Centerra? The best way for me to answer that question is when you actually see the structure, grocery store signage and people walking out with groceries.

As with anything McWhinney, most people think that McWhinney Enterprises has total control over the process. Nope! McWhinney has the dirt, the plan, the responsibility but they are not in the grocery business. They are in the find the best tenant, build it right, make it beautiful, make it convenient and make a profit business. A few months back, McWhinney was preparing for a grocery store but I think the negotiations stalled with a prospective grocery chain. From my understanding, grocery stores need rooftops and plenty of them. The Centerra area has a great deal of potential to a grocery store but they need a hard figure to work with. I guess the amount of traffic on Highway 34 may not be enough to appease a grocery store chain. It comes down to the amount of rooftops (residential) in a given proximity to the grocery store location to make it a viable business decision. Should McWhinney shoulder the blame for this? This blame the McWhinney's mentality is getting old….. how can we have it both ways? Slow growth but build a grocery store, less taxes with additional conveniences, etc.

In a few months (maybe years) when the grocery store is built, I have a feeling that many people that have complained about not having a grocery store will start complaining about traffic and noise because of the grocery store. All I can say is hang in there, be patient and stop whining. Soon, many of us will be able to walk to a brand new store were you can buy stuff. How convenient is that?

To read the newspaper's take.