Hays Post

Despite some engineering hiccups, the retail shopping center planned for north Vine in Hays is moving along, according to Stephen Tebo of Tebo Properties.

The Boulder-based developer said plans are about 60 days behind, but he hopes to make up some of that time during the construction process.

“We go to bid this week … and then we go to the city to get a permit,” Tebo said. “We have nothing stopping us whatsoever … financing is in place, plans are in place.”

He said the hope is to get much of the work done before winter sets in and the ground begins to freeze.

The 25,000-square-foot complex will feature 12 retail storefronts, in addition to Pasta Jay’s, a Boulder-based Italian restaurant.

Initially, the construction will occur around the existing Nex-Tech Wireless building at the northeast corner of 43rd and Vine. The lease on that building expires in the summer of 2016, and Tebo said he has a proposal on the table to have the wireless company become a tenant in the new development.

After the lease expires, plans call for that existing building to be cleared to make room for what Tebo expects to be another restaurant site.

Rent won’t be cheap, he added.

“It’s the best corner in northwest Kansas, and I’ll have the best building in northwest Kansas,” he said.

There already are five letters of intent already on the table with potential tenants.

“We’re pretty optimistic,” Tebo said.

The Hays location of Pasta Jay’s will join three others — Moab, Utah; Boulder, Colo.; and Lone Tree, Colo. The first Pasta Jay’s opened in 1988 in Boulder and offers a variety of Italian fare.