SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The announcement of the new ownership group of the Santa Maria Town Center is the talk of the town in Santa Maria. But some local businesses have concerns about construction that is set to start soon.
Archon Group will serve as the assets manager on the project. The group refused to tell Central Coast News any other projects that they own or manage but we did some digging online and found that the group owns a Chevrolet dealership in Valencia, California as well as numerous pieces of real estate.
They bought out and revamped apartment complexes in the U.S. in July. According to Business Journal, 1,000 apartments nationwide were part of that deal and cost the group $90 million.
They're moving quickly to get the Town Center project started and begin heavy construction, so we checked with local businesses for reaction on how it might affect them. Some of the businesses around the Santa Maria Town Center are more concerned about the time of year in which the construction is starting. Maritza Rodriguez works at a jewelery store across the street from the center and she says the timing of the project is bad for their business.
"Starting construction before Christmas time, I think its really bad timing. Nobody wants to be in traffic. It's our busiest time also."
Still for some business owners near the area, any negative effects of construction are a small price to pay for the possibility of more business to the downtown area.
"We need business. Anything we can do to promote business downtown will help" says Amy Lopez, owner of Christies Full Service Salon.
