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After a celebratory ribbon cutting Wednesday morning, Trojan Marketplace is officially open.

The City of Troy and Hutton Real Estate held a ribbon cutting to welcome the existing stores and discuss plans for the retail center’s future.

Ground was broken on Trojan Marketplace in December 2019 and the center is located at the corner of U.S. Highway 231 South and John H. Witherington Drive.  Hobby Lobby was the first store to open in the 120,000 square-foot retail center in late March. Since then, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Rackroom Shoes, and TJ Maxx have opened. Ross Dress for Less is scheduled to open later this summer. Also, McAllister’s Deli will locate in one of the outparcel buildings currently under construction.

“This is a tremendous day for Troy, all of Pike County and our region,” Troy Mayor Jason Reeves said. “It’s an incredible day. When I backed into a parking space and looked out at the view, I wasn’t sure we would ever see something like this in Troy. I’m proud we have this level of retail in our community. This is a tremendous retail shopping opportunity.”

Reeves went on to say that closing the deal on the retail development was a difficult task to get done. He said it would not have been possible without a lot of hard work done by members of the Troy City Council and without help from the Pike County Commission.

Hutton Real Estate in Chattanooga, Tenn., was the real estate developer on the project and Karen Hutton, president and CEO, was in Troy for the celebratory ribbon cutting.

“What’s exciting about this is how tough it is to make these deals happen,” Hutton said. “Your work explodes into something like this shopping center behind us. We were united by a lot of different opinions and that’s what’s needed to make things like this happen.

“I want you to know, we’re only about halfway there and we’ve got a lot more coming to Trojan Marketplace. It’s exciting to see what is going to be here.”

Ryan Slattery, senior development project manager for Hutton, said the COVID pandemic made the project difficult, but because so many people put in long hours and hard work, the retail center was able to open on schedule.

“We’ve worked in a lot of places and the mayor has a phenomenal staff,” Slattery said. “The City of Troy is top-notch. We have Class A tenants across the board, These tenants are who everybody battles for.

“Come fall, this center is going to look a lot different. We hope to do a lot more in the future.”