A building located right along Main Street that has housed two restaurants during its decades of existence was recently sold. And what the future holds for that building remains to be seen.

 

The former Hardee’s and King’s Restaurant building situated at the entrance of the Valley Hills Shopping Plaza was recently sold to Bridgeport businessman Mark Carder. Carder owns the Carder Motors business and property directly across the street on U.S. Route 50 – better known at Bridgeport’s Main Street.

 

Carder acquired the property from Davidson Run Properties, which is led up by a group that includes another Bridgeport businessman in Don Baldini. Baldini, as well as city officials, had confirmed that negotiations with two different restaurants had advanced significantly before falling through since the time King’s Pizza departed last year.

 

So what are Carder’s plans for the facility? Right now, the man who formerly had a successful lot along the same stretch of roadway in Bridgeport, but on the opposite end of U.S. Route 50, isn’t sure. After being in his current location for five years he believes the property is not only valuable for others, but could also be valuable for him.

 

“At this moment, I don’t have any plans for it. By purchasing property that’s strategic to my location here, I’ll have options as to what goes in there,” said Carder. “Basically, this is a business investment and a strategic move.”

 

Ideally, Carder would prefer to see the building utilized again as a restaurant. He said that would be the first choice, but the location lends itself to other businesses as well.

 

“It’s ideally located with a lot of traffic and there’s plenty of parking,” he said. “You could have a restaurant. You could have a medical office there or, if nothing works out on that front, I may look at putting a different type of automotive inventory across the street. I have no plans on doing that at this point, but I won’t say that if it sits vacant and growth of my business dictates it, it may come to pass that we utilize that lot for more inventory of vehicles.”

 

One thing Carder does not want to do is to put the building up for sale to a new business. He would like to see a long-term lease negotiated. The best case scenario would be to see a long-term lease signed and then extended.

 

“It’s been vacant longer than I thought, but it’s not been vacant that long,” said Carder. “There’s roughly ¾ of an acre of flat property with good access off of Main Street. I think it’s a good investment that will benefit the community.”

 

Carder said he’s already put some feelers out to gauge interest from prospective groups that may want to use the building. If a restaurant goes in place, there are some materials such as walk-in freezers, coolers that could be utilized. The building itself, Baldini said recently, is in good shape.

 

“Hopefully, something will happen soon,” said Carder.

 

Editor's Note: Pictured is Mark Carder in front of the old Hardee's/Kings Pizza building he recently purchased.