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C+CT

Redevelopment recap: Upgrades are under way at these properties

April 9, 2018

Shopping center owners across the country are reinvesting millions in their properties to attract new tenants and keep consumers coming back. Examples follow.

Mall makeovers

Simon announced transformational redevelopment plans at five properties. “We are excited to redevelop the former Sears stores with uses that will benefit the community and the existing retailers in these destinations,” said Simon Malls COO Michael E. McCarty. The properties involved are Brea (Calif.) Mall; Burlington (Mass.) Mall; Midland Park Mall, in Midland, Texas; Ocean County Mall, in Toms River, N.J.; and Ross Park Mall, in Pittsburgh.

Burlington Mall's plan includes redevelopment into new shops and restaurants. Construction for phase one starts this summer with a spring 2019 opening. Ross Park Mall's plan features a new dining hall and new retailers, restaurants and entertainment on three levels. Construction is slated to begin early next year, with completion set for the summer of 2020.

Brea Mall will add a three-story, 120,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness destination, as well as residential, entertainment, restaurants and retail. Ocean County Mall is to bring in new stores plus dining and fitness facilities, with construction to start there in the fall and an opening scheduled for early 2020. Midland Park Mall will add two new restaurants and a larger Dillard's store, plus a new-to-the-market large-format retailer. That work is expected to start this spring and to wrap up by the summer of 2020.

Brea (Calif.) Mall

Freshening up

By demolishing some obsolete space near the back of the center, the 315,000-square-foot Woodlands Square, in Oldsmar, Fla., has improved traffic flow and made way for a diverse new lineup of anchor tenants, including a 24,000-square-foot Earth Fare. This new supermarket is the centerpiece of a major redevelopment of the center, which was built in 1987. 

The center’s AMC theater has undergone a $7 million renovation. Owner Ram Realty Advisors reoccupied the former Office Depot with a PetSmart and a Five Below. The firm also built a freestanding Ulta Beauty store and added new building facades, signage, roofing and more. “Whether through new construction, lease extensions, lease amendments or tenant relocations, we touched roughly 270,000 square feet — roughly 85 percent — at Woodlands as part of this extensive redevelopment,” said Jonathan Porter, Ram Realty's vice president of asset management and finance. Anytime Fitness, Coast Dental and Salon Lofts are among the other tenants.

Woodlands Square, Oldsmar, Fla.

Upgrades ahead

Northpark and Pacific Retail Capital Partners broke ground on a multimillion-dollar renovation of Northpark, a 34-year-old Ridgeland, Miss., mall. First-phase plans for this 958,000-square-foot property include public entrances, corridors and common-area gathering spaces. Other enhancements will include fresh landscaping and a resurfaced parking lot.

The food court will be remade into a more open and spacious café-style eatery, with a high-resolution, interactive digital display to provide continuous, motion-activated content, including targeted messaging. The redevelopment will also incorporate art features from local artists, a children’s play area and a family lounge with private nursing areas, baby-changing stations and more. This first phase is to be completed in November.

Northpark, Ridgeland, Miss.

Mixing uses

RD Management bought the Sears property at University Mall, in Tampa, Fla., for $7 million, placing the 100-acre site under the control of one owner for the first time since the tract was originally assembled, in the early 1970s. RD Management intends to transform the 1.3 million-square-foot enclosed mall into a mixed-use center called Uptown — a multistory, open-air development with retail, entertainment, hospitality, education, medical, office and residential uses. The project could cost between $1 billion and $2.5 billion by the time it is completed in 2028. The current tenants include Burlington, Dillard’s and Miller’s Ale House. The Sears will remain open during renovation.

“The acquisition of the Sears property marks a significant milestone in the transformation of the entire University Mall site,” said COO Roger Hirschhorn. “We are excited to include Sears in the dynamic, mixed-use center we’ve always envisioned for this extraordinary community.”

University Mall, Tampa, Fla.

Decade makeover

Perkins Rowe, in Baton Rouge, La., is set to embark on the property’s first major redevelopment since opening nearly 11 years ago. The multimillion-dollar investment will see work begin later this year and is to include a variety of projects across the property, which encompasses 874,000 square feet of retail, office, multifamily and food-and-beverage.

“Lots of thought, anticipation and planning have gone into what we are now ready to unveil,” said Tommy Miller, chief investment officer of Trademark Property Co. “The result will not only modernize and beautify Perkins Rowe, but also make us better able to satisfy our commitment to the local community and the arts.”

One of the most notable aspects of the work will involve adding a building for innovative food-and-beverage concepts, an activated public space with gathering areas and some game venues on the east side of the property, next to Anthropologie, Sur La Table and J.Crew. Among other enhancements: a renovation of the town square, including a bandstand, a water feature and new seating areas. Murals by local artists will be placed throughout. Additional storefronts are to appear on East Market Street, with fresh facades appropriate for service-oriented tenants. Visitors will enjoy a new parking garage and directional signage.

Perkins Rowe, Baton Rouge, La.

It takes a village

Ross Dress for Less opened a 25,000-square-foot anchor store at Agora Realty’s redeveloped Fiesta Plaza, in North Las Vegas. Agora Realty spent $20 million upgrading the 200,000-square-foot property, which it purchased in 2016, 55 percent occupied and with no anchors. Since then, the firm has leased about 133,000 square feet, expanding the La Bonita Supermarket and bringing in a Conn’s HomePlus. Agora Realty completed exterior facade and parking-lot renovations and has upgraded core utilities.

“Solid relationships with the city of North Las Vegas Economic Development Department and [the] mayor, the support of NV Energy and strong ties with the brokerage community are an important part of the success of the center and our ability to ensure an aggressive construction schedule to complete the Ross store,” said Agora Realty CEO Cary Lefton. “Many of our tenant build-outs were under tight construction schedules. The city of North Las Vegas and its building department expedited permits, assisted in facilitating utility upgrades and were very creative in solving traditional problems when renovating an older in-fill commercial site.” The center’s downtown location is a designated redevelopment corridor for the city.

Fiesta Plaza, North Las Vegas, Nevada

Dramatic transformation

The addition of an AMC cinema to the 1.2 million-square-foot Montclair (Calif.) Place is a key element in the long-term renovation and repositioning of that regional mall. The developers will demolish a former department store and replace that with a new building for the AMC and with 64,000 square feet of new  restaurant and entertainment space. This phase of development continues the revitalization of this  property with a fresh, updated experience inside and out. A substantial facade improvement program was completed recently. Tenants here include JCPenney, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Sears. 

An earlier phase of the redevelopment introduced a food hall, called Moreno St. Market, offering a diversity of dining options. The former food court area has been demolished and is being reconfigured for amenity space and for new retailers. The exterior facade of that entrance is also undergoing extensive upgrade. Improved circulation and way-finding through the mall has been completed, including the addition of a more convenient second-floor entrance to Macy’s. The multiphased redevelopment of Montclair Place exploits the mall’s position as one of the largest, most visible and easily accessed destinations in this expanding Southern California region.  

The AMC cinema at Montclair (Calif.) Place

By Brannon Boswell

Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today

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