A 12,000-square-foot retail strip mall under construction on Iowa Boulevard — expected to house new locations for three Pemberton Square Boulevard retailers — could open by Nov. 20, its Jackson-based developer said Tuesday.

Leases have been signed in the unnamed center for Cellular South’s hop across U.S. 61 South, as well as for Advance America and Perfect Nails, said Bridgforth Rutledge of Vicksburg Management II LLC, which closed a purchase on the property last week. A Rex Radio and Television outlet operated there until it closed in 2009.

Demand for six suites in the planned strip center has run “really high,” Rutledge said, estimating contractors should continue working “pretty quick” on converting the former appliance store to a strip mall. Rutledge, who owns seven Back Yard Burgers locations in Mississippi, said a restriction against quick-serve food outlets exists on the land title dating back to neighboring McDonalds’ development, precluding an expansion of that franchise into the new center.

Space occupied by the payday advance service and the nail salon, currently located next to the vacated former Kroger store, is not part of redevelopment plans for the old grocery store and Pemberton Square mall by Texas-based Weiner Development. Both properties are under contract and on pace for a two- to three-year time frame for the total makeover.