East Perry Plaza anchors Perry County's business growth near Hazard

East Perry Plaza is no longer just a promise on Highway 80. With businesses open, more on the way, and about 11,000 cars passing the site each day, Perry County now has a real-world measure of whether its development strategy is producing jobs, tenants, and long-term tax growth.

What is already on the ground

The most immediate sign of progress is that East Perry Plaza is already operating as a commercial corridor, not a blank parcel. Current tenants include Farmer Pediatric Dentistry, Fazoli’s, Steak n Shake, and The Big Kahuna car wash, giving the site a mix of medical, dining, and service uses that draw different kinds of daily traffic.

That matters because those tenants create proof of concept. A site with established brands is easier to market to the next round of businesses than raw land ever is, and the existing mix shows that Perry County has already attracted the kinds of users that depend on visibility and convenience.

The plaza’s location adds to that pull. County material places it on Highway 80 near the Highway 15 intersection, where drivers moving through the Hazard area can see it without leaving the main corridor. The county says traffic averages about 11,000 cars a day, a strong number for a market of Perry County’s size and a key reason the site stands out in the local commercial landscape.

Why the location is more than local

East Perry Plaza sits in the middle of everyday county life. It is adjacent to East Perry Middle School and the Perry County Central High School football field, which means the site is not just part of the retail map but part of the school and sports landscape that local families use every week.

The surrounding anchors help explain why county leaders see the development as regional rather than strictly hometown retail. Nearby are the City of Hazard, Appalachian Regional Hospital, the University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health, and Daniel Boone Plaza, where Walmart and Lowe’s give the broader retail corridor added gravity.

That mix gives the site a larger trade area than Perry County alone. County material says Perry County has about 28,000 residents, but the shopping area extends across Leslie, Knott, Letcher, Breathitt, and other surrounding counties, reaching more than 100,000 residents in total. For a county trying to grow its tax base, that wider market is the difference between a small strip center and a development with regional reach.

The buildout is bigger than one plaza

The county does not describe East Perry Plaza as a stand-alone project. Perry Plaza Phase 1 is approximately 30 acres, and county material says another 100-plus acres of flat land remains available for future development. That means the current tenants are only the first visible layer of a much larger land-and-infrastructure plan.

The site is also being equipped to look more like a ready-to-build commercial pad than a raw field. County material says Phase 1 is getting a 12-inch sewer line, 8-inch water line, electrical service, and natural gas. Those utilities are not flashy, but they are often the deciding factor for retailers, medical providers, and service businesses that do not want to spend years waiting for infrastructure to catch up.

That is why the county’s messaging around the plaza emphasizes more than storefronts. It highlights an affordable and dependable workforce, affordable utility costs, scenic surroundings, and proximity to two state parks within 30 miles. Those selling points are aimed at businesses that may compare Perry County with other regional sites before deciding where to open.

Public money helped move the project forward

The plaza’s progress did not happen by accident. County material says the shopping center had been in the works for more than two years, and the Appalachian Regional Commission dedicated $1.2 million to sewage and infrastructure near East Perry Elementary. That investment helped underwrite the kind of site prep that makes private development more realistic.

Judge-Executive Scott Alexander said the project had an 85% to 90% chance of being built, while also warning that hurdles remained. That is the right way to read East Perry Plaza now: promising, but not complete. The county has made meaningful progress, yet the final shape of the development still depends on whether tenants keep coming and whether the surrounding market supports more construction.

From a policy standpoint, the project is a case study in how county governments try to turn public infrastructure into private investment. Sewer lines, water lines, and road access do not create a retail district by themselves, but they can remove the biggest barriers that keep one from forming.

What may come next

The current tenant list is not the whole story. A 2023 announcement said Gatti-Town would join the development at the East Perry Development Site on Highway 80 in Hazard, adding family entertainment to a corridor already anchored by dining and service businesses.

Separate listing material tied to Perry Plaza points to even more possible uses, including a GoTime gas station, Moe’s, a quantum healthcare clinic, and a planned VA outpatient clinic. It also says the county had purchased 50-plus acres for a future sporting complex, suggesting the broader site could eventually mix retail, health care, recreation, and destination traffic.

That variety is important because it tells you what Perry County is trying to build. The goal is not just to fill a row of pads. It is to create a cluster that keeps local spending in the county, attracts people from surrounding counties, and adds assessed value in a place that has long had to make every major commercial project count.

For now, East Perry Plaza gives Perry County something concrete to point to: open businesses, visible traffic, utility-backed land, and a growing list of planned uses. The county’s development strategy is no longer theoretical on Highway 80. It is being tested storefront by storefront, and the next phase will show whether this corridor can deliver the broader economic return leaders have been promising.