More Than a Lease: Bringing Clean Water, Convenience, and Community to Greater Sacramento
Building Communities One Partnership at a Time
Commercial real estate is about more than filling space. It’s about bringing businesses into communities that improve everyday life.
That is exactly what Watermill Express represents.
Austin Barron’s work in helping bring approximately 20 Watermill Express locations to Ethan Conrad Properties shopping centers across the Greater Sacramento area is more than a leasing milestone. It is an investment in the neighborhoods our properties serve.
For more than 40 years, Watermill Express has focused on one simple mission: providing families with convenient access to affordable, high-quality drinking water and ice. Today, the company operates nearly 1,300 drive-up refill stations across the country, making it the largest drive-up provider of purified drinking water and ice in the United States. Their stations are designed to provide safe, purified water while giving customers an environmentally responsible alternative to single-use plastic bottles.
The impact reaches far beyond convenience.
Every refill station helps families save money on bottled water, encourages reusable containers that reduce plastic waste, and provides reliable access to purified drinking water in neighborhoods throughout the region. Watermill Express estimates its refill model has prevented nearly 15 billion single-use plastic bottles from entering landfills, demonstrating that small, everyday choices can have a lasting environmental impact.
Their commitment to community extends beyond the communities they serve locally. Through partnerships with organizations such as World Vision, Watermill Express has helped provide more than 100 million gallons of clean water to people in developing countries, reinforcing the company’s belief that access to safe drinking water can change lives both at home and around the world.
These are exactly the types of businesses Ethan Conrad Properties strives to welcome into its shopping centers.
When a company like Watermill Express joins one of our centers, it creates another reason for residents to visit, strengthens neighboring businesses through increased traffic, and provides a practical service families can rely on every day. These partnerships help create shopping centers that are more convenient, more sustainable, and better connected to the communities they serve.
Austin’s success isn’t defined simply by the number of leases completed. It’s reflected in the lasting relationships he builds and the positive impact those partnerships have across Greater Sacramento.
At Ethan Conrad Properties, every lease represents an opportunity to strengthen our communities, support local businesses, and create places where people want to live, work, and shop.
