Traveling down tree-lined Route 2 in Exeter, the Oak Harbour shopping center
pops into view just when you start wondering when signs of life will appear.
The South County town with a population of about 6,200 doesn’t allow drive-through
establishments – no fast-food restaurants. Only 7 percent of the town’s $600
million annual revenue is from commercial/industrial property. It doesn’t have
a single bank or even a police station, but a village-style shopping center
has given the sleepy town a dab of suburban life.
The Oak Harbour Village holds a trendy Downcity Providence-style restaurant;
a bakery straight off of Federal Hill; a tanning salon; a lighting and electrical
center; and a surfacing showroom with marble, granites and other custom materials
from across the globe that designers long to have at their fingertips. There’s
also a hair salon; a women’s fitness center; a clothing boutique; an Italian
eatery; a much-needed gas station; and, of course, a Dunkin’ Donuts for the
droves of new homeowners who have moved into town.
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“Exeter has grown so much over the past few years. It is up-and-coming, and
we wanted to be here,” said Celestial Café co-owner Branden Read.
The development at 567 South County Trail isn’t even halfway complete, but
developer Robert Marcello is by no means turning the town urban.
The shopping center, with its green, standing seam metal roofing and clapboard
siding set 200 feet back from the road, fits into the tree-filled scenery.
“There has been a lot of rural sentiment expressed from the town. They want
to keep it a rural setting – no huge box stores,” he said.
The answer to the town’s restriction is a number of smaller, one- and two-story
spaces with small-business tenants. The largest space in the development has
13,000 square feet ground area.
“We put in enhanced landscaping, village-style lighting and we kept the building
far off the road. The entire design surrounds the village green – an open space
– where people can walk around and enjoy themselves,” Marcello said. “I chose
this location because I saw a need for services in the area. We are creating
a place where people can have a pleasant shopping experience – a shopping venue
that won’t offend the neighbors.”
The three buildings that house these retail shops were the former and now
defunct Harbour Shellfish seafood manufacturing plant. Construction on the abandoned
buildings began in 2001. Tenants moved in and began operating two years ago
and new tenants continue to fill vacant and planned space.
Two new buildings will start rising behind the existing buildings on the 16-acre
plot in the fall and should be complete by next summer. Construction on a sixth
building will begin in late spring of 2005 and is set for completion by that
fall, adding between 30 to 40 new tenants to the list of 18 existing ones.
“I’ve been very picky with the tenants I choose – people who want to add a
South County location to their existing businesses – like Crugnale’s (Bakery)
and Nuzzo’s (Defining Surfaces),” Marcello said.
Marcello owns another 20-acre plot abutting that property, where more spaces
will be available in the future – phase II of the Oak Harbour project. The number
of spaces and investment amount had not been determined, he said.
The new buildings will have similar “upscale” businesses and Marcello hopes
to add some residential units above retail spaces, pending town approval, for
shop owners who want to live close to their business or residents who “like
a bit more action.”
