A 6,700-square-foot store front iconically known as Karen’s Café and Clothes Over Bros in the hit TV series One Tree Hill is for lease, according to a broker overseeing the listing.
 
John Hinnant, a broker with Maus Warwick Matthews & Company, said Monday the building owners instructed him to place the prominent first-floor storefront in the Self Help Building at 272 N. Front St. back on the market for lease.
 
Maus Warwick Matthews & Company is the primary leasing agency for the historic building.
 
Hinnant said a letter of intent, which is a nonbinding agreement, had been placed on the site by an unnamed company for over a year, but the owners were ready to move forward with finding a tenant to fill the space.
 
The storefront space is one of the last large retail spaces remaining in the central business district along Front Street.
 
Hinnant said while the owners would prefer a tenant that could occupy the entire space, he said officials were open to subdividing the space. He added build to suit and a tenant improvement allowance with approved terms would also be considered.
 
With development activity increasing in the downtown area, Hinnant said he’s meeting with potential business representatives at the site two or three times a week.
 
“We hope to attract a service needs tenant that downtown residents want to see, like a grocery store or pharmacy,” Hinnant said. “We’re trying to work and attract national retailers because the site is so close to a school, hotels, shops and a growing residential development.”
 
Aside from the site’s debut to national and international audiences in One Tree Hill, the location was also used in the filming of Dawson’s Creek – a teen drama that was shot mostly in Wilmington, Hinnant said.
 
To learn more about the listing, click here.