Tooele’s commercial real estate market still seems to show few signs of slowing down, with tenants continuing to move into new spaces in the booming northern end of the city.

Tom Longaker, a Salt Lake City-based developer, has mostly filled his Tooele Tower Center, which opened last year, with businesses like Rent-A-Center, Fast Lane Clothing Company, and a soon-to-open Radio Shack. He’s now trying to line up tenants for a 60,000-square-foot retail project he wants to build just west of Applebee’s restaurant.

“We have about 90 percent of the first complex all filled up, and there’s only one bay left,” Longaker said. “With the other property, we’ve had a number of mid-box tenants express interest in moving in. We’re satisfied with the different types of tenants that are attracted to our market, but we would like to have companies set to move in before we start building. We want to make sure we have interested businesses that can necessitate the development.”

Longaker isn’t alone in his long-term optimism regarding the city’s commercial development. Steve Griffith, associate broker for Prudential Utah Real Estate in Tooele, said interest in commercial real estate in Tooele is phenomenal considering the nation’s current economic state.

“We’ve found that commercial and residential growth over the past years has spurred more commercial interest, so we now have the rooftops we need to lure more companies in to Tooele,” he said. “The companies we have now have paved the way for more companies to want to come in.”

Griffith said he is also working on getting several major retailers to come into Tooele. He said that several of the companies he has talked to have expressed excitement about moving into the area.

“We’re working with several big-box retailers, as well as several mid-level box retailers that are in the 20,000-30,000 square-foot range, and we’re doing things like looking at local land and different sites right now,” Griffith said. “We’ve seen more commercial interest now than we have seen in a long time, and it’s so unprecedented to see this many ‘big boys’ want to come to Tooele County. It’s become a hotbed for new businesses, with its job market and cheaper price of land, and the Money magazine article on us being a good place for job growth helped out too.”Sandy Covello, a real estate agent with Remax Platinum in Tooele, said she has seen interest in a one-acre piece of commercial property she owns with Mike Quarenberg at 1280 North, just east of the recently vacated Leatherby’s Family Creamery.

“We feel that it’s in a good spot and will sell to a good business, even though it’s not on Main Street or big enough for a strip mall,” she said. “It’s only one acre, so it’s probably big enough for only one business. Jeannie McIntyre and I also have the pad in front of Hollywood Video under contract, and I’m hoping there will be a new Chinese restaurant that goes in there.”

Covello said she has also received purchase inquiries about the old liquor store on South Main, which she currently owns part of.

“We’ve received a few calls from people who want to lease that building,” she said. “However, because there are so many ADA rules now for buildings, whoever bought it would have to refab that old building on the inside.”

Matt Smoot, developer for Sky Properties in Bountiful, recently sold a one-acre commercial lot in north Tooele, which is just south of Apollo Burgers and the old Leatherby’s Family Creamery.

“The property is in a fairly good location, and it helps that it is close to Wal-Mart,” he said.

Local developer Bob McIntyre said he was able to fill up most of his business complex south of Wal-Mart.

“We’ve got everything leased out except for two of the spaces, and it’s been tough to get those last two sold,” he said. “I understand that people are planning to build a lot more business complexes in north Tooele, and it seems like there is an overabundance of them right now. However, it seems to be that as more people build them, the businesses will come.”

With Tooele County’s housing market and overall economy in better shape than the rest of the nation’s, McIntyre said it’s no wonder why companies from Salt Lake City or elsewhere want to come here.

“Tooele County is a good spot for businesses, and people here support them quite well,” he said. “A lot of the spaces here are being leased out by Salt Lake companies that have branches out here, and even more are looking at Tooele County as a location. Even though we’re in a tougher market right now, it’s also still cheaper for businesses to move out here than other places.”

Griffith said the addition of more high-profile companies may likely help create another residential boom in Tooele County.

“If you throw up more big box stores and other major businesses, it’s going to attract more people from out of town,” he said. “More companies will want to come here, and more people will want to live here when they see all that we have. I think we will see the residential market bounce back soon because of the good commercial market.”

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com