Renovation plans for the Iron Horse Shopping Center in Sparks could help fill some of the storefronts that have been vacant for quite some time now.
Shopoff Realty Investments acquired the property and hopes to improve the area.Â
Roxanne Stevenson, Senior Vice President with Colliers International talked about the announcement for the shopping center, saying "We do believe the economy is getting stronger all the time and I think this shopping center is going to be one of the biggest beneficiaries. This intersection because we're so close to the freeway."
More than 45,000 cars pass through the intersection at E. Prater Way and McCarran Blvd. But local businesses say they've seen the shopping center slow
 the past couple of years.
"I don't know if it's that the shopping center is out-dated, I don't know if they're just not getting the customers that they used to, I just can't really tell. We have the traffic that we've always had. It just seems like things have maybe slowed down a little bit," said Shelby Cisneros, the Assistant Manager for O'Reilly Auto Parts.Â
O'Reilly Auto Parts, along with other tenants like Pizza Plus have noticed a drop in business since major retailers left Iron Horse.Â
Mark Jacinto, an employee at Pizza Plus said, "I feel like Pizza Plus used to be a much busier place. But now that a lot of places are shutting down, not that many people are coming here."
There are multiple properties at the shopping center that are vacant. Only one third of the area is occupied by tenants.
Shopoff Realty is investing more than one million dollars to Iron Horse. New landscaping, repavement in the parking lot and updated signage are some of the improvements to come.Â
Where Target used to be is now an empty 100,000 square foot box property looking to be filled.Â
"I guess it just depends on what they put in there, really. You know, as far as who you're going to get coming in," said Cisneros.Â
And Save Mart is leaving and being replaced by a FoodMaxx in the coming months.Â
Residents we talked to had a few suggestions of their own in mind for the shopping center.Â
Karmelle Wegman, a Sparks native said, "I would like to see some type of big box, maybe clothing store move in at the end of the parking lot. And it would be nice to have grocery stores with cheaper prices."
Nonda McClellan, a Save Mart employee added, "It is local. People walk around here. So I think that they're gonna to love it when they start seeing things pop open. It's exciting."
We're told some businesses are already showing interest in the empty space at Iron Horse.Â
