CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Businesses owners renting space in the Water Street Village find themselves needing a new place, after the owner of the property canceled their leases.
The long-time building is located near the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Water Street and Park Avenue. Many businesses there are now being required to move out.
Business owners who rented the space in the plaza were notified on Feb. 16, that they must leave the premises by April 15.
For single parent and La Brujita Boutique owner Taylor Ojeda, moving her business has been hard.
“I genuinely put my heart into the space,” she said. “I’m excited for the new things that are coming, definitely at some point, I wanted to move and get a bigger space and all these things, but for me it’s something that I built from the ground up.”
The Nueces County Appraisal District website states that the owner of Water Street Village is Nicholas "Nikko" Sissamis, who owns Niko’s Steakhouse.
“It’s a space that people have come to create a sense of community — not just my store but everybody’s there," Ojeda said. "For us to just have a rug pulled like that, it genuinely, more than anything; it hurt me, it hurt my heart.”
Now many business owners have less then three months to move.
“What hurts the most not for just me, but for a lot of people this is also a very fellow small business owner,” she said. “This is a local business owner who is putting down other small businesses and I know that they probably just see it as land, but I mean, it’s a shopping center, it’s a space for community, it’s a space for so many things, so it’s not like they don’t know.“
KRIS 6 News reached out to Nicholas "Nikko" Sissamis who sent us a statement.
NPS Ventures, LLC purchased Water Street Village in August 2022. The property was in very poor condition. The St. Nicholas Church is adjacent to Water Street Village. While a final decision has not been made, some thought has been given to donating the property to the Church. Cravey Real Estate Services, the owner’s property management company, was asked to manage and lease the property while an assessment was being done. The property needs substantial renovation, and some important insurance coverages may not be renewable without the renovations. It was decided that it was time to close Water Street Village. In compliance with all of the terms of the leases, and with professional assistance, the property owner provided written notices to the tenants that, on the expiration of their existing leases, no further extensions would be made (additional time has been given for tenants to move). I sincerely wish each and every tenant of Water Street Village success at their new locations.
Lawyer David Z. Conoly said that that the NPS Ventures, LLC does not have any plans for the property right now. He mentioned that they considered donating it to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
Ojeda's business has moved to a new location. The grand opening at her new spot is Friday. You can get more information on that here.
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