Montrose Hits 100-Percent Occupancy

Life is looking up in Montrose Village, shopping association president John Drayman said this week. “We’re 100 percent leased,” Drayman said.

The Montrose businessman said many of the new companies are food related, including Gourmet a Go Go, Zen Thai and the T Shop. Occupying the old J.C. Penney along with Zen Thai will be a personal spa company.

“A lot of people worked very hard to bring this about,” Drayman said. He paid tribute to his predecessor as shopping park president Dale Dawson, who is now treasurer. “We work very well together.”

Drayman said the Montrose Shopping Park has thrived in recent years, with the budget doubling in the past five years. The work of upgrading the sidewalks and street lights has been completed, and the board is now planning to replace the landscaping, nearing the end of its effective life.

“We’re going to bring back the historical landscaping,” Drayman said in keeping with the Montrose Shopping Park Association’s efforts to preserve the history of Montrose.

He said the effort to help finance the community police station through the sale of calendars is proceeding well. “The station is very important for us,” he said.

Crime is not a big issue in the shopping park, he said. “We had some problems with vandals etching glass in storefronts,” he said. “The new lighting has stopped that.”

Drayman said the MSPA has had success with an historical orientation, offering traditional events and working with historical societies. He is an historian himself, preparing a book on the community’s past.

A candidate for Glendale City Council in the last election, Drayman said he has not announced plans for next year’s election but has kept his committee of supporters intact.