FERRIDAY &8212; Plans to build a new shopping complex in Ferriday are on track, developer Vernis Stanaland said by phone Wednesday, pending one crucial detail.

&8220;We can&8217;t go out and put anything on the ground until we get an agreement with an anchor tenant,&8221; he said.

In other words, if they come, we&8217;ll build it.

It&8217;s not quite &8220;Field of Dreams,&8221; but this is real estate development, not Hollywood.

Stanaland, who was in town Tuesday working on site plans for the Louisiana 65 location, said the first phase of the development would cover roughly 70,000 square feet of building to house a &8220;discount variety store and maybe a big grocery store&8221; as well as smaller, local merchants.

He estimated the first phase would cost around $4 million to build.

Subsequent phases would be built on the 43-acre site north of town following the same pattern.

&8220;You can only build what you can lease,&8221; Stanaland said. &8220;You&8217;ve got room to build a mall if you want to, but we can&8217;t lease all of that.&8221;

Cecil and Liz Brooking own the property; Stanaland has purchased an option to buy and develop it.

With the site maps complete, he said financing the development is the next step.

Financers want to know that there is interest before signing on, however, so luring a major retailer is the biggest hurdle Stanaland faces.

He said he plans to have a tenant within 90 days and, if things work out, to begin construction by May of 2006.

Stanaland&8217;s Tyler, Texas-based realty, building and development company has built similar complexes in Shreveport, La., Tyler and Marshall, Texas.

The company also builds office buildings, residential property and hotels.