Les Schwab Tire Center

As Les Schwab expanded throughout North Dakota, I knew they would likely need a location in Devils Lake. It’s a key regional hub, and the retail corridor near Walmart made the most sense.
 

I identified a larger parcel near Walmart owned by a local operator who sold heavy equipment. It was not a pad and it was not subdivided. It was excess land tied to his existing business. I believed we could carve off roughly 1.5 acres and create a workable site for a new Les Schwab store.
 

I cold called the owner and, after several attempts, we structured a deal to purchase a portion of the property. From the beginning, I knew we would need cross access over the seller’s remaining parcel. That access was shown on the test fit, attached to the LOI, and initially agreed to.
 

Once escrow opened and the ALTA survey was delivered, the first major constraint surfaced. Two separate 100-foot power easements ran along the edges of the property, and a 75-foot transmission easement cut diagonally across the site.

We overlaid the site plan onto the ALTA to understand the impact. The 100-foot easements could be maneuvered around. However, the 75-foot transmission easement clipped the proposed building footprint. That made the layout unworkable as designed.
 

Rather than walk away, I traced where the transmission line extended beyond our site. It ran toward newer development, which suggested it might no longer be active. I tracked down the utility’s easement manager, sent the ALTA and site plan, and asked directly. He confirmed the line was not in use and that the easement could be abandoned. That single conversation kept the deal alive.
 

Over the next several months, we worked through the typical development process: engineering, legal coordination, plan refinements, and maintaining alignment with the tenant.
 

Then, one week before closing, the most significant issue surfaced.
 

When I sent the formal cross-access easement for recording, the seller refused to allow it. He was willing to let us construct the drive aisles, but would not permit the easement to be recorded over his remaining parcel. For a national tenant, that was not acceptable. Truck circulation and long-term access depended on recorded legal rights.

We went back to work.
 

We redesigned the access, pursued a new curb cut requiring City approval, and proposed a north-south drive split evenly between his parcel and ours. If the drive had to sit entirely on our property, the remaining 100-foot easements would have made the site unworkable.

This time, he agreed.
 

We closed, and the Les Schwab store opened successfully in Devils Lake.

J. Clint Jameson, CDP

Managing Partner