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Shopping Centers Today -> December 2004
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IN BRIEF
Conn. Post mall to grow — again
Westfield Group
broke ground Oct. 12 for the $118 million renovation-expansion of the Westfield
Shoppingtown Connecticut Post mall. The 1 million-square-foot center, in Milford,
Conn., at Interstate 95 and Boston Post Road, was built in 1960 as an open-air
mall. Sydney, Australia-based Westfield acquired it in 1981 and has expanded it
three times since. The developer is adding two parking garages and a children’s play area. There will also be more than 400,000 square feet of additional specialty stores and new anchors. A 14-screen Cinema de Lux (this division of National Amusements offers reserved seating), Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target will join existing anchors Filene’s, J.C. Penney and Sears.
The food court will add four new tenants and relocate from the third floor to the second. Plans also include the development of two new sit-down restaurants.
The population of the primary trade area exceeds 450,000, and the average household income is $63,334 a year. The project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2006.
Maine Marketplace expanding
In Augusta, Maine, local developer Roger Pomerleau and Chestnut Hill, Mass.-based W/S Development Associates are planning a 500,000-square-foot expansion for The Marketplace, a 700,000-square-foot power center. The center, currently anchored by Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Old Navy, Staples and Wal-Mart, will gain 25 new tenants as part of the expansion. Ground-breaking is scheduled for the fall of 2005.
Empire
State-area rents up
Retail rents around New York City’s Empire State Building are skyrocketing,
up 82 percent in the past year. Average asking rents for ground-level retail space
on 34th Street reached $299 per square foot this year, says the Real Estate Board
of New York.
Chicopee Marketplace under way
CBL & Associates Properties broke ground on Chicopee Marketplace, a 443,000-square-foot power center in a suburb of Springfield, Mass. Scheduled for an August 2005 opening, the center is 76 percent leased to such tenants as Marshalls and Staples. Chicopee will go up between freestanding Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores.
Barneys sold, big push planned
Clothing maker Jones Apparel Group is buying upscale department store chain Barneys New York for a reported $400 million from its owners, investment firms Bay Harbour Management and Whipoorwill Associates. Barneys has a big expansion push planned, including new stores in San Francisco and Las Vegas, as well as a 60,000-square-foot flagship at Simon Property Group’s Copley Place, in Boston, according to a report in the New York Post. The chain currently operates three flagship department stores in New York City, Chicago and Beverly Hills in addition to several Co-Op and outlet stores.
Bass Pro Shops adds another
Bass Pro Shops opened a 200,000-square-foot Outdoor World store at Feldman Equities’ Harrisburg (Pa.) Mall. The new store is the centerpiece of a recently completed redevelopment that includes a new Boscov’s anchor store, new entrances and parking lots, and even a live-trout stream running through the common area.
N.J. mall to get spruce-up
The New Jersey-based Eastman Cos., Roseland Properties and Jacobs Enterprises development firms have teamed up to redevelop obsolete shopping center Silverman’s Plaza, in downtown Livingston, N.J., as a mixed-use project. The $60 million project will contain 70,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, 17 single-family homes, 75 town houses and 24 condominiums. The ground-breaking is set for May.
Market Place Mall, part 2
The second phase of the $25 million redevelopment of Market Place Mall, located
in Cicero, N.Y., is under way. Westchester, Ill.-based Tri-Land Properties is
demolishing 150,000 square feet of the enclosed mall to make way for two separate
buildings totaling 65,000 square feet. Panera Bread Company and Supercuts have
signed leases. Lowe’s will build a 143,000-square-foot home improvement store
on a 12-acre outparcel. The project is scheduled for completion in the spring
of 2005.
Giant Food
to slim prices
Giant Food announced plans to slash prices on 3,000 products at all its stores
by 7 percent, which comes to about $35 million per year in savings for its customers.
The move is part of the Pittsburgh-based grocery chain’s strategy to compete
with the low-price attraction of Wal-Mart Supercenters.
1.1 million-sf lifestyle center?
Connecticut-based SullivanHayes Cos. and Buffalo, N.Y.-based Benderson Development Co. have proposed a $90 million, 1.1 million-square-foot lifestyle center for a 161-acre lot in Hudson, Mass. The center is to be called Highland Commons.
Has tenants, needs name
Conshohocken, Pa.-based Fameco Real Estate brought in Cold Stone Creamery, Great Clips, Panera Bread Co., Pier 1 Imports, Sleepy’s and Starbucks as tenants at a still-unnamed, 40,000-square-foot shopping center in Feasterville, Pa. Locally based Highland Development and Pineville Properties own the center, which is 99 percent leased and scheduled to open in February.
Wilmorite for sale?
Wilmorite Properties says it is exploring “strategic alternatives,”
including a merger with another real estate company. The Rochester, N.Y.-based,
privately held company, which owns and manages more than 15 million square feet
of retail space, holds a stake in suburban Washington, D.C., fortress mall Tysons
Corner Center.
Shopping Centers Today
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