Market Square already bustling with business

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Market Square in BG
along Wooster Street. (J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

Market Square, Bowling Green’s new retail/apartment complex, is quickly filling up with renters, both in
the retail space and in the apartments on the second floor.
Located at East Wooster and Prospect streets, the compound already includes Biggby Coffee and Jimmy
John’s, both of which opened earlier this month.
Also scheduled are an AT&T site and Wings Over, which specializes in wings, boneless wings, ribs,
sandwiches and fries.
"Everything kids like at 2 in the morning," Realtor Mark Remeis quipped.
That leaves two open store fronts, which Remeis is confident will be filled by the end of the year. He
said A.A. Green Realty, which built the site, has two letters of intent.
Steve Green added that the building would be full, but a potential client ran into the issue of acquiring
a liquor license.
The 16 one-bedroom apartment units on the second floor are all rented with a mix of college students and
professionals.
Steve Green said the combined residential and commercial will be good for the city.
"People aren’t used to this kind of development," he said. "It’s a new idea in this
area."
Al Green said the complex complements the downtown and will bring more people to the area.
Steve Green said the project would not have happened without city support.
Earlene Kilpatrick, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, indicated the chamber "is very
supportive of economic development projects in our community."
"Market Square is an exciting extension to the downtown with job creation and the attraction of new
or relocated businesses." AT&T and Jimmy John’s are both relocated from other sites in the
city.
Will Pierce, manager at Jimmy John’s, said the company was interested in a site closer to downtown.
"It’s just great for business because of the traffic that comes downtown both day and night."

He said the business is "substantially busier" at the new site.
Penn Station will go into the former Jimmy John’s site in Greenwood Center.
Rezoning the site to B-5 "has generated much more discussion about our current zoning and how we can
… embrace ways to generate the economic development in Bowling Green," Kilpatrick said.
The city created a B-5 zoning, transitional central business district zone, specifically for this site
with the stipulation that no tattoo parlors be allowed.
"We’re the catalyst for what I’d like to see happen in Bowling Green in the next five to 10
years," said Remeis.
The set-back on the site did not allow for Biggby Coffee to offer drive-through service.
Four houses, all owned by A.A. Green, were tore down to make room for the complex.
Al Green said not only will the businesses create more jobs, but it will pay four times the school
district taxes that was being collected from the former houses.
The chamber will host a Business After Hours at Market Square on Aug. 6 from 4:30 to 6 p.m., for the
businesses and the apartments upstairs.

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