Edinburg strip-mall owner eyes piece of the pie

EDINBURG — Suresh Mansinghani, a McAllen businessman, bought a foreclosed and struggling strip mall along one of the city’s busiest boulevards in May, hoping to capitalize on the location.

The owner of downtown McAllen’s Perfume King paid full price for the University Emporium, a strip of shops across the highway from the University of Texas-Pan American that has been used by businesses that never seemed to generate much traffic.

Five months later, Mansinghani has not renewed the contracts of some stores, added a cell phone store and a women’s accessories retailer and will soon unveil two fast-growing eateries — all an attempt to capitalize on the thousands of students who drive the busy corridor daily and usually overlook the property.

“They had deadbeats in there. Now I’ve got motivated tenants that are willing to do a new thing,” Mansinghani said of the shops at 1414 W. University Drive. “Edinburg is growing tremendously. I’m seeing the future.”

Mansinghani plans to anchor the strip with a new Which Wich? and a Yumi Yogurt, which will draw customers not only to the eateries but to the other retailers along the stretch. He found the strip while scouting properties for Chad Wilson’s second Which Wich?

Wilson had planned an Edinburg venture since opening the Valley’s first Which location in McAllen in 2008. He said that among the Which Wich? chain, the top performing restaurants are those near university campuses.

“Everyone walks,” Wilson said. “I know it’s a commuter school and I know there’s a lot of transportation involved but once students are on campus, they’re on campus.”

David Le is putting the finishing touches on his Yumi Yogurt shop, a casual restaurant that will serve yogurt. He envisions the eatery as something of a student union, where college kids can hang out, study and of course, eat some sweets.

Le said he chose Edinburg for the shop, which he hopes will eventually become a franchise, because of strong growth near the university. When he graduated from UTPA in 2006, the area was far different, he said.

“When I went to Pan Am, I had a hard time going to school because of all the construction (along University Drive),” he said. “Now (the road) is better. It’s bigger — more traffic. It’s good for business.”

Since taking over the property this summer, Mansinghani got rid of a music store, which he said was really just a warehouse. A dry-cleaning business left because they wanted a drive-through window, something Mansinghani couldn’t do because he didn’t own the adjoining property. One existing tenant, a tax office, has remained because Mansinghani said he generates a lot of traffic.

Thus far, Mansinghani has also brought in a Handbag Heaven, a women’s accessories store, and a Sprint Store. So far, the customers have not materialized, said Mobby Alishah, owner of the cell phone store. It’s not a recessionary blow either. Alishah’s other Sprint locations are doing well, while the Edinburg store is empty. He hopes things turn around when the new eateries open.

“We’re not doing anything. We’re just sitting there. Honestly,” Alishah said. “It’s just making me scared now.”

With the development, other problems have surfaced. For one, the parking lot is far too small to handle even the traffic at the McAllen Which Wich? location, and University Drive is difficult to cross on foot.

The city plans to make it easier to cross the highway, which is maintained by the state, said Ramiro Garza, Edinburg city manager.

The city is also working with South Texas Independent School District, a developer, the university and Edinburg school district to create a new north-south road east of Sugar Road that would connect Sprague Road to University Drive.

There is no timeline for the new road yet, as it’s still in the early planning stages. Once the plan is in place, the city would petition the state for a new traffic light that would connect the new road to the main entrance to UTPA. Better crosswalks are also a part of the plan.

“This is not by any means final,” Garza said. “We’re just awaiting letters of commitment from all these entities.”

Mansinghani is untroubled and confident in his new venture. Years ago, he predicted that gold prices would skyrocket, so he pulled out of the gold business and his old shop, the long-time McAllen fixture The Gold Factory, and went into perfumes. The move has helped him weather the deep recession, he said.

“We go through ups and downs and that is part of business,” Mansinghani said. “The successful business people will be those that are flexible enough to adapt to the changing environment.”

Sean Gaffney covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.