"We have three [offers] from three separate" entities prepared to fund construction of roads and utilities to serve the 148,000-square-foot store and later the balance of the Cross Creek Shopping Center project, Angler Development LLC Executive Vice President Steve Vento said Friday.

By mid-June, Angler will choose one of the three equity groups to help it build the 39-acre shopping center at Routes 29 and 600, Vento said.

The potential parters are based in New York City, Alabama and Connecticut, he said.

Vento will continue negotiations with two of the investment groups in Las Vegas on May 18 at a convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Because of the weak economy and uncertain credit markets, Angler has been unable to obtain a bank loan to develop the Cross Creek Shopping Center site.

Lacking that option, the the financially strapped Warrenton developer has sought private investors to help it make the project work, Vento said.

Principals with Angler established Cross Creek Investments LLC, which owns the shopping center property.

Whichever equity partner it picks, Cross Creek Investments will retain substantial ownership in the project, Vento said. He declined to say how much of the project the local corporation would continue to control.

Cross Creek's bank debt for the project totals $8.8 million, according to Vento.

Two of the three investors interested in the project would use cash to clear the debt and own the property outright, he said.

He described them as "well-heeled" developers that had accumulated "a lot of cash over the years."