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Shopping Centers Today -> June 2004
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WESTCOR PLANS 5 SUPER-REGIONALS
BY IAN RITTER
Macerich Co. subsidiary Westcor plans to open five super-regional centers in the rapidly growing Phoenix metropolitan area over the next few years.
Westcor, which already owns eight centers in and around Phoenix, plans to build the projects in suburban areas where there remains ample room for development. The regional population is set to double to about 7 million by 2020, says David C. Scholl, Westcor’s senior vice president of development. The company has dubbed the mall-building program “Phoenix 20/20.”
David Cheatham, senior vice president of retail corporate services in the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis, says Westcor’s plan makes sense.
“We’re one of the fastest-growing places in the world,” he said. “It’s not unreasonable at all. The only way they miss the mark is if it gets pushed back a couple of years.”
Retail developers are trying to keep up with the residential growth. Last year they built 1.8 million square feet of retail; this year they expect to develop an additional 1.5 million square feet, says a Marcus & Millichap report on the area released this year.
“Retail development will decline during the year as many retailers wait to secure high-profile sites near booming subdivisions across the [area],” predicted David A. Wetta, senior vice president and regional manager of Marcus & Millichap’s Phoenix office, in the report. “As a result, retail vacancy will decline, which will attract even more investors to the area.”
Westcor, a longtime developer in the area, plans to build enclosed and open-air centers, or projects that combine the formats. Each development will supply about 1 million square feet of retail. “We’re trying not to put blinders on and use a cookie-cutter approach,” Scholl said.
Westcor is in talks with Dillard’s and Robinsons-May to anchor the centers. The company will spend most of the year marketing the area to other retailers.
The first project, which is being tentatively called SanTan Fashion Center, will probably go up in Gilbert, southeast of Phoenix. Westcor is already building the SanTan Village power center there, slated to open next year. Work on SanTan Fashion could start by late next year, says Scholl. After that opens, the company plans to build a center in Goodyear, west of Gilbert. Other sites Westcor is looking at include Surprise, Ariz., and an area north of Scottsdale called Paradise Ridge.
In March Westcor opened La Encantada, a 258,000-square-foot lifestyle center in Tucson. All its retailers are scheduled to open in the fall. Westcor also plans to complete the renovation of Arrowhead Towne Center mall, in Glendale, by the fall. There, the company is adding 45,000 square feet of retail and making cosmetic changes to the center’s common areas.
Robert L. Ward and Rusty Lyon founded Westcor in 1970. Macerich bought the company in 2002 for $1.5 billion but allowed it to keep its name and Phoenix headquarters. Westcor currently operates eight malls, four specialty retail centers and 23 community centers.
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