About 40 years ago, the Breene family made what some people thought was a risky land purchase.

It was an area about two miles northeast of Bismarck, and not many people saw potential there. They saw inconvenience, mostly, Rod Breene said.

"They thought, 'no one is going to drive two miles out of town.'"

But the interstate was going up out there, and within a few years, they had begun establishing a mobile home park on the property. Within 20 years, the family put up a convenience store and gas station, currently the Cenex on Centennial Road, said Breene's brother, Ken Breene. All along the exit, north and south, industrial areas and commercial warehouses were developing.

Two more gas stations popped up, taking advantage of the interstate traffic:Tesoro on the south side of the interstate, and a brand new BP on the north side.

And, less than six years ago, single-family homes started populating the area.

While a lot of eyes are on northwest Bismarck and its continued, sustainable development in retail, residential and commercial,others are keeping a close watch on that stretch of land off of Exit 161, the last exit out of the city.

"A lot of people aren't even aware of what's there,"Rod Breene said.

But what is there? Certainly not a lot of retail, yet.

A lot of land north of the interstate, past the UPS station and the Century Avenue and Centennial Street intersection, is industrial, but there are several prime areas north and south of the overpass, along the interstate, zoned for commercial, city planner Kim Lee said.

And throughout are residential areas, some of which were formerly zoned as industrial but were never developed as such, Lee said.

"Our department always hears that there isn't enough industrial in town,"Lee said. "We seem to get a lot of requests for additional industrial areas."

But it wasn't developed to its potential in that area, so city planners saw potential for residential. The rezoning worked.

There are more than 550 residential lots in the area that have been developed, or are in the planning phases. Sattler Sunrise has certainly seen a significant amount of housing starts, and has room to grow. Lee said Sattler has 383 lots north of Century and east of Centennial.

When residential subdivisions go up so quickly, retail almost certainly falls into place.

Kyle Holwagner with Lahr &Lahr Real Estate said several banks are looking at land in that area, and at least one commercial and retail park, Medbery Plaza, owned by Mr. B's Inc., is waiting to go up by the Cenex.

"It's a 19,000-square-foot neighborhood center, basically designed to be midstyle property that'll offer a little bit of diversity to the property,"Holwagner said.

Rod Breene, president of Mr. B's Inc., said they're looking for about seven to 10 tenants, with a mixture of retail, to professional service, to food. They're thinking dry cleaners, financial institutions, hair salons and other basic retail settings, to serve the residential growth in the area.

Cedric Theel also has been sitting on five acres of land behind the Tesoro for a few years, and they're ready to build on it soon, manager Justin Theel said.

Plans are not completely nailed down yet, Theel said, so he was not certain if the interstate location would be a completely separate lot from their original one, or if they'd move all of their inventory to the new area.

But he is certain that the spot will provide enough traffic to sustain a solid car dealership.

"Great location, interstate location, great growth in that area,"Theel said. "The number one reason we picked that is interstate traffic."

That interstate traffic and residential growth has its drawbacks in the interim, though.

Sattler Sunrise only has one main road coming out of its subdivision, causing headaches at Century Avenue and Centennial Road on busy workday mornings. But the city's on top of it, city traffic engineer Mark Berg said.

"We're looking at improving that intersection," he said. "We want to go from the interstate, along Centennial, through the Century Avenue intersection."

Part of Century Avenue between State Street and Centennial Road is being widened into five lanes, two lanes on each side and a middle turning lane, which should be completed by the fall.

The city then has the intersection widening up for state funding for fiscal year 2009. Berg said the funding has not been confirmed yet, however.

But the traffic is still frustrating for residents and workers alike.

"Trying to push that much traffic on a one-lane roadway is taxing,"Berg said. "I know there's a lot of frustration with the people, esepcailly that live east of Centennial."

Being on the fringe of the city, he said, will do that, because a solid street network has not yet developed.

The heavy traffic, despite its headaches, is what's so encouraging to developers in the area, though. That intersection gets an estimated 18,315 vehicles a day, Berg said.

Which is just fine by Breene.

"As traffic comes our way, the traffic count justifies bringing in more business,"Breene said. "There's a lot of new rooftops going in that area of town."

Breene said they're hoping to start construction on the center this year, depending on the interest generated. With the new building, a colorful, L-shaped plaza, they plan on upgrading the Cenex, too.

"Bismarck has been growing in all different directions,"Breene said.

"It's interesting to see what kind of mix we come up with (for the plaza). It's just fun to be part of that development and help that area grow."

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)