For those wondering and for those inquiring about all the material on the former Tom Davis Garden Center property, it does involve a business. However, it doesn’t involve a business going in place at the location.

 

“The material you see there is for storage. City Construction is doing a project right in that area and they’re using the land for six to eight months,” said Eric Cochran of Triple L Commercial Properties.

 

The property is in a prime location along Route 50 – Main Street – in Bridgeport between Bridgeport Eye Care and the Towne House East Motel. Cochtan purchased the property in 2017, after Davis passed away in January of 2016. Davis opened the location in the late 1980s.

 

Since the acquisition, Cochran has done several things as planned. The most notable was the demolition of the building that housed the Garden Center.

 

While Cochran would have liked to have had the property sold by now, he’s had plenty of interest. In fact, he currently may have a deal in the works that he can’t discuss. However, he did talk about three national brands that looked at the location. Two of those businesses actually signed letters of intent before backing out.

 

“The one I felt best about was O’Reilly Auto Parts. They were going to put in a parts store as part of two stores in the area,” said Cochran. “I was told this location and that the other location would be in Clarksburg, but the Clarksburg site fell through and they pulled out. They told me they were still interested, but that’s been some time ago and I haven’t heard anything from them so I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen.”

 

As for the other, it was a national brand restaurant. While many will know the name, like Cochran, they may be surprised for the reason he was given not to come.

 

“Bojangles (Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits) also signed a letter of intent, but backed out due to spacing. I was told after they did their research that I wasn’t far enough away from their closest location,” said Cochran.

 

And that location?

 

“They told me Charleston,” said Cochran. “I questioned it because that’s two hours away, but that’s the reason they gave me.”

 

A third business that showed more than a casual interest was Sheetz, Cochran said. No letter of intent was signed as the deal couldn’t provide what Sheetz wanted.

 

“Sheetz came here, but they said they wanted a stop light and everyone knows there’s no stop light. That ended it after they were showing a lot of interest,” said Cochran.

 

While that’s the bad news, the good news is the fact as listed above that there’s another interested party. Cochran couldn’t discuss it, but he said there is an option agreement in place until the end of April.

 

“Basically, the agreement allowed them to make sure they can do what they need to do to make it happen on their end and that on our end everything is up to speed environmentally if the property is purchased,” said Cochran. “The agreement makes sure I can’t sell it out from under them as they’re doing their research.”

 

Cochran said he’s somewhat confident this deal will go through, but couldn’t talk any particulars. In the interim, the interest continues.

 

“I still get calls from individuals about it all the time,” said Cochran. “The ones we’ve talked about are the ones that went beyond phone calls. I’m feeling good that it’s just a matter of time.”

 

Editor's Note: Top two photos shows equipment and infrastructure being stored on the site. Below is a Google Maps photo of the former Tom Davis Garden Center.