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MALL FOR ALL

CBL’s Coastal Grand-Myrtle Beach joint-venture is designed to appeal to locals, well-heeled part-timers and tourists alike

BY DEBRA HAZEL

Some shopping centers serve a local population, others predominantly tourists, and still others part-time residents. But the $200 million Coastal Grand-Myrtle Beach, which opens the 17th of this month, has been leased and designed to appeal to all three.

The project is a joint venture of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates Properties and Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Burroughs & Chapin. It sits on 170 acres at the intersection of U.S. 17 Bypass and U.S. Highway 501, anchoring the 60-mile stretch along the Atlantic Ocean known as the Grand Strand.

“The location is the heart of the market,” said Michael Lebovitz, senior vice president of mall projects at CBL. The tourist market has grown steadily, and so has the permanent population, much of which consists of affluent retirees and owners of second homes.

Projections are that the trade area’s full-time population of 414,000 will grow to nearly 445,000 by 2007. Over that period, the average yearly household income will rise too, from $47,421 in 2002 to $53,335, the developer estimates.

“This has been a hidden jewel,” said Jim Kelly, the mall’s general manager, referring to the area and its demographics.

Myrtle Beach draws 13.7 million visitors annually, whose yearly household income averages $69,000. Unlike many tourist destinations, the area was not affected by a decline in air passenger traffic following the Sept.11 terrorist attacks. Positioned halfway between Florida and New York, its visitors have usually come by car.

The draw is “the ocean, then shopping, then golf and the attractions,” said Patrick Dowling, vice president of communications at Burroughs & Chapin.

Unlike most new malls being built today, Coastal Grand is enclosed, which may perhaps differentiate it and offer respite from the elements, particularly for those tourists who overdo their sunbathing.

“Everything else in this market, including the Tanger Outlet Center and Broadway at the Beach [Burroughs & Chapin’s retail-entertainment complex] were all outdoors,” said Jan W. Bass, a regional leasing director at CBL.

Burroughs & Chapin, the area’s dominant commercial landowner, says it figured it was only a matter of time before someone built a regional mall there.

“The Grand Strand has expanded and was booming economically even when the slump occurred,” Dowling explained. “We knew someone would put in a regional mall. So we decided to do it.”

Burroughs & Chapin says it chose CBL as a partner because of the company’s dominance in the Southeast and because it is a family-owned REIT. Their venture is 50-50, with CBL serving as the developer, leasing agent and manager of the center. The partners broke ground in June 2002.

The developers saw that if the center was to successfully draw locals, part-timers and a range of tourists, it would have to be designed and leased with care. CBL undertook massive research to quantify the overall market, particularly because Coastal Grand is the firm’s first new development in a major tourist area.

“Trying to get our arms around the tourism business was huge,” said Bass. “In January there are more than 300,000 tourists, and there are almost 2.8 million visitors in August.”

The category of visitor varies with the season, says Barbara J. Ivankovich, SCMD, CBL’s vice president of mall marketing and corporate relations. Canadians dominate in the winter, golfers arrive in the late spring and early summer, and beachgoers join later.

The leasing challenge was to appeal to all of those groups. The mall will be anchored by a 156,000-square-foot Dillard’s (the first in the market), a 143,000-square-foot Sears and a 140,000-square-foot Belk.

Bed Bath & Beyond, Cinemark and Dick’s Sporting Goods will be junior anchors, and future plans call for two more department stores and two more junior anchors.

Other tenants will include Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor Loft, Gymboree and Hollister. Until now, local shoppers have had to drive to Charleston to find some of these retailers.

Another draw will be an open-air restaurant district that provides visitors with live entertainment.

The project was originally called The Mall of South Carolina, but the developers renamed it last April to suggest the nature of the immediate surroundings.

The center’s design, too, is intended to reflect the character of the area and please tourist and local alike, says Richard Foy, a founding partner of Boulder, Colo.-based Communication Arts. The firm was lead designer for the center’s public areas; Atlanta-based MSTSD was the overall mall architect.

“We’re trying to capture the lure and leisure of a beach area,” said Foy. Thus, the side facing the coast utilizes wood lattice, grillwork and stucco with embedded oyster shells.

The western facade, which faces the neighboring town of Conway, has a more traditional design.

“The design is driven by Myrtle Beach’s past, present and future — its rich history, what it is today and the anticipation of what it will be years from now,” said Grant Moseley Jr., president of MSTSD. “There is a difference between beach architecture and Low Country architecture, and we wanted the mall to reflect both,” Moseley said.

The mall, anchored by Belk, Dillard’s and Sears is scheduled to open its doors on the 17th of this month. The area draws nearly 2.8 million visitors in summer.

The Low Country side of the project uses mottled brick and textured mortar joints. (The term “low country” refers to an American architectural style that borrows from the Southeast coastal region and whose design features include wraparound porches and expansive windows.)

Inside, concrete columns are scored to resemble wood and evoke boardwalks, and murals will depict scenes of area life. Twelve porcelain-enamel panels give historic information about Myrtle Beach, and the food court is decorated with historic signs from local businesses.

“We want to create authenticity for the local,” said Patti Van Hook, senior graphic designer of Communication Arts. “We want the finishes to be something they can be proud of.”

The porte cochere, which leads into the food court, has a textured metal roof, patterned grilles and louvers, classic columns and decorative glass.

“This is more than just a shopping place,” CBL’s Ivankovich said.

About 1 million square feet will open on the 17th, with the rest to come later, though the developers have set no timetable. Eventually, the project will top out at 1.5 million square feet. At press time CBL expected that the mall would be about 88 percent leased and committed on opening day, with about 80 percent of the space open. That does not include the restaurant court. The eateries will probably be opening over the next 15 months or so.

There will be one casualty when Coastal Grand opens. Sears and Belk will relocate from the 437,000-square-foot Myrtle Square Mall, which had been the dominant mall in the area; it, too, was developed by Burroughs & Chapin.

The old Myrtle Square will eventually go dark, says Dowling. Though in its heyday it had about 90 tenants, it now has roughly half that many. Nearly all those leases will be expiring through the spring, and the company is negotiating with two of the longer-term tenants to close their doors.

“Many people see Coastal Grand as a crowning piece,” Dowling said. “I see it as the next step up.”

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