Tucked in the back of the 405 College Ave. shopping center, the Blue Heron Restaurant has been a local haunt and a home base for more than 17 years.

"My children run through this building. It's been a lot of days spent in here," Blue Heron's owner, Shaun Chastain, said.

On Thursday afternoon, Chastain and his general manager, Mike Pitts, were looking over blueprints for their new location. It needs work and it's a few miles out from downtown, but Chastain and his employees had no choice.

Last week, Chastain's landlord sent him a letter saying Blue Heron's lease of nearly two decades was terminated. He has to be out by Jan. 10.

The other businesses at 405 College Ave. – also known as the Shops at College Place – will also have to vacate the property.

The shopping center will be demolished to make way for a planned 354-bed student apartment complex from Gilbane Development, due in 2021.

The developer said they are waiting on city permits to schedule a demolition of the 12,000 square foot space.

'Kind of blindsided'

"We kind of had an idea in the summer that we might need to leave, but then, honest to God, we thought we were safe," said Brandi Lindoe, who owns Clemson Confectioneries at the shopping center.

Lindoe said she was "kind of blindsided" by the letter she and other tenants received notifying them of the property's sale and telling them they have 90 days to move out.

"A little more time would've been nice," Chastain said. Wary to the whims of another landlord, Chastain will be purchasing his new building.

Kelli Reece is the owner of Mayberry's restaurant at 405 College Ave. Reece said the first time she heard of the deal was when an Independent Mail reporter called her in June about the new design plans the developer submitted.

Reece said the property's owner and her landlord, Phil Owens, kept tenants in the dark throughout the process.

"They told us that it wasn’t selling, that it wasn’t happening and they would let us know if anything changed," she said. "They didn’t let us know anything until they had money in the bank, and that was a week ago."

Owens did not respond to requests for comments.

In a June email obtained by the News and Independent Mail, Owens told Reece he was open to inquiries from potential buyers, but nothing concrete was happening.

"This is the fifth time we have been in this process. None of the previous times led to a sale. We do not notify tenants every time this happens for that reason," the email from Owens states.

Where will they go?

The letter from the property's landlord included an option to lease a commercial space at the planned apartment complex was included, but that space won't be ready until at least 2021.

Mayberry's will close down after Clemson University's fall semester ends, Reece said. The laid-back soup and sandwich shop is moving to a new location in downtown Seneca, a reopening is slated for February 2020. Like Chastain, Reece is buying her next property.

Reece said most of her customers are from Seneca, and the town's revitalized downtown is an attractive option for her business.

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"This move for us is going to be a good thing, but it’s really painful," Reece said.

Clemson Confectioneries will stay open at their current location until Jan. 10.

"We are literally going to ride it out. We’re going to stay here as long as we possibly can," Lindoe said. "This is my livelihood and I just can’t move it, I have nowhere to go."

Lindoe is moving her sweets shop to Patrick Square, but she said that space won't be ready until August 2020. In the meantime, Lindoe and her husband are "scrambling" to build a 1,500-square-foot kitchen in their backyard.

Lindoe said she spent $80,000 to up-fit her current location, which she's been in for less than two years.

She estimates her two new spaces will cost between $100,000 and $200,000.

"It’s a huge expense to move out of here and go to a different place. I don’t really think it’s fair, but what are you going to do?" Lindoe asked.

Clemson becoming 'industrial corridor'

The shops at 405 College Ave. are primarily small and locally-owned.

"We have seven small business in this plaza alone. To watch them go, that’s sad," Lindoe said.

The shopping center at 405 College Ave. was built in 1984, according to public records.

The property's market value increased from $1.7 million in 2018 to $3.8 million in 2019, according to public property records.

Less than half a mile down College Ave. from downtown Clemson, the property is within walking distance of campus and the district's many restaurants, bars and shops.

Initial proposal:354-bed apartment building could replace Blue Heron, other businesses in Clemson

"I hope that we can find a way to keep that small business feel down here because it's just kind of turning into this industrial corridor," Lindoe said.

Chastain said the property's sale signals change.

"It's not the same College Ave. it was 10 years ago ... And I think growth is good for communities, I just question what the end result is going to be."

Reach Zoe at znicholson@gannett.com or on Twitter @zoenicholson_