Another auto parts store is coming to Kodiak in the near future – O’Reilly Auto Parts. The national retailer purchased a vacant property in August between Kodiak’s Petro Express gas station and the Safeway store, off of Von Scheele Way.
A spokesperson with O’Reilly told KMXT via phone that a store will be built in Kodiak but did not provide any other details. According to the company’s online database, the construction project was awarded to the Hatch Group out of Orange, CA on June 25, which is also listed as the general contractor for at least two new stores in Anchorage, AK.
The property where the new retailer will be built is lot 4 of Mill Bay Kodiak Subdivision, located at 180 Von Scheele Way, which was sold by Mill Bay Plaza Associates Limited Partnership. This entity is majority owned by Old Harbor Native Corporation Settlement Trust at 40%. But its partners also include the Grothe Family Exempt Trust. Lenhart Grothe was a tin miner and alumnus of University of Alaska Fairbanks in the 1950s, who lived in Kodiak with his family.
Michael Martin of Brechan Enterprises, Inc. is also one of the listed owners for the partnership along with several others.
Although the final sale amount for the O'Reilly property was not listed within public documents, the Kodiak Island Borough lists the assessed value of the 1.2-acre lot at $471,800.
Other documents filed with the property sale and deed transfer show that the other three lots in that subdivision, which are owned by Mill Bay Plaza Associates Limited Partnership, cannot be used for the sale, lease, or use by an auto parts company other than O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Kodiak currently has two other auto parts stores, a Carquest Auto Parts which is located within city limits, and a NAPA auto parts, located within the Kodiak Island Borough limits.
*Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the NAPA auto parts store is located outside of city limits, not within as originally stated in this article. The error has been corrected and KMXT regrets the error.