COVER STORY, FEBRUARY 2007

RETAIL AND ENTERTAINMENT GO HAND IN HAND
Savvy developers are giving shoppers a complete package.
Stephanie Mayhew

The act of shopping has become a form of entertainment in the United States, and the advent of dramatic lifestyle centers and open-air shopping malls have only added fuel to the fire. Today, savvy developers are capitalizing on America’s hunger for entertainment and are developing retail projects that provide not only a plethora of varied shopping, but entertainment activities as well.

Performa Entertainment Real Estate is developing The Foundry, a 130,000-square-foot entertainment/retail development in Trenton, New Jersey.

In Trenton, New Jersey, Performa Entertainment Real Estate is developing The Foundry, a 130,000-square-foot development that includes specialty urban retail, restaurants and entertainment venues. And while The Foundry will offer a variety of retailers for its patrons, the development is about entertainment first and retail second. Performa, which developed the highly successful entertainment epicenter, Beale Street, in Memphis, Tennessee, specializes in mixed-use urban retail/entertainment districts that are not just shopping centers, but tourist attractions. John Elkington, chairman and CEO of Performa, notes that with more than 40,000 square feet of live entertainment, the development is a very specialized, unique product that is not found in any market place in the area.

According to Florian Suserman of The Goldstein Group, the lead real estate broker for sales and leasing of The Foundry, the entertainment will be created through a diverse mix of specialty retailers that provide shopping and unique entertainment aspects and  the events that will be taking place throughout the development. Tenants include Wet Willie’s Daiquiri Bar; Red Cheetah, a martini bar and dance club; Funny Bones Comedy Club; B.B. Kings Blues Café; Sal DeForte’s Ristorante, a fine-dining Italian restaurant; Cootie Browns, a southern specialty restaurant; and Toad’s Place, a live entertainment rock club.

Suserman notes that they are currently looking at local retailers to help round out the portfolio of tenants; however, at The Foundry, your average retailer just won’t do. “We are not just looking for average retailers to fill a space, we are looking for tenants with specific entertainment aspects. For example, we are looking for a coffee house, but we don’t want someone to open a typical 1,000-square-foot coffee house. We are looking for a coffee house that can provide an entertainment atmosphere that is open early and open late to cater to the specific crowd that will be patronizing the area,” says Suserman. The Foundry will also contain specialty restaurants with an entertainment vibe, and each will provide outdoor and indoor seating, a rarity on the northern East Coast. “People can come to The Foundry with their families or friends to shop, eat, have a cup of coffee or a drink, they can see a comedy show, a rock band, a blues band, or a country band — it is just a different venue all of the time for visitors,” says Suserman.

Aside from the unique mix of retailers, the $37 million project will feature an open 1.5-acre courtyard that will host approximately 70 to 80 events per year. “Our strong point is the fact that the development will offer free concerts and festivals, which is great for the patrons and the city,” says Elkington. The location of the project is another unique amenity because it provides several different transportation options. “The ability to get to an area is key to its success and The Foundry offers several different options. For some developments, the infrastructure for transportation has to be built, but this area already has the infrastructure in place to support and provide several different options for transportation,” says Suserman. 

Situated directly across from the Sovereign Bank Arena, which hosts approximately 150 events per year including sporting events, conventions and concerts, The Foundry is poised to bring in sports fans, concert goers and various visitors to Trenton and the surrounding area. In addition, because of its strategic location directly off Route 1, the development will not only draw in local residents, but tourists from nearby New York City and Philadelphia. “There is only an upside in this area because of the density of population and the location to other major cities and four major universities. Plus, there is nothing in this area like this development,” says Suserman.

Performa has been working closely with the state of New Jersey and the city of Trenton to revitalize the area, and The Foundry is anticipated to act as a catalyst for more development. “Development begets development, and this project will help change the entire area as the next step in the redevelopment of Trenton,” says Elkington. In addition, The Foundry will also include a residential component of 100 rental units in a mid-rise, three-story building. “Currently, Trenton is more of a sports and entertainment area with some office, so this project will also be breaking ground for more residential development in the area,” says Elkington.

Located in a centralized and convenient area, The Foundry will be well-maintained and highly secured with no hassles for area residents and visitors to Trenton. “The project is all about people going to the area, eating great food with their friends and having a really good time,” says Suserman. Construction is slated to begin early this year with completion scheduled for late fall 2007. 

Pure Entertainment The 2,500-seat stadium will be home to the New York Red Bulls soccer team and host numerous other concerts and events throughout the year. AEG, in partnership with Red Bull, is constructing a development that is set to bring nothing but pure entertainment to Harrison, New Jersey. Red Bull Park stadium will be the new home of the New York Red Bulls soccer team and will also host numerous other events including concerts, 10 international soccer games, 10 to 15 music concerts and a handful of college and high school sporting events. The new stadium is part of Harrison MetroCentre, a mixed-use development that will feature 3 million square feet of office space, 300,000 square feet of retail and 3,500 housing units. Ground was broken on the 2,500-seat stadium in September 2006 and is slated to open in July 2008. Having played the last 11 seasons in Giants Stadium, AEG, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, felt that it was time to provide the Red Bull team and its fans with a stadium that was more soccer specific. According to Nick Sakiewicz, president of AEG New York, Harrison proved to be the ideal place for the new stadium because of the fans that live in and around the area and because of the transportation available at the site. The MetroCentre development offers a train station on site and it also lies along the Northeast corridor. In addition, it is 3 miles from the Newark airport, is 1 mile from the New Jersey Turnpike, and the Garden State Parkway and Interstate 280 all connect to the roads that lie right along the property. Upon completion, the new stadium will be part of a triumvirate of state-of-the-art venues -— the New York Arena, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Red Bull Park — within a 10 minute walk of each other; thus, creating a complementary and dynamic sports and entertainment district. “AEG always felt that this location would be successful because of the fans and the transportation. Since groundbreaking we have been ahead of schedule in sales, selling 20 percent of our suites already,” says Sakiewicz. Red Bull Park is part of Harrison MetroCentre, a mixed-use development in Harrison, New Jersey. Designed by Detroit-based Rosetti Architects, the Red Bull stadium promises to offer maximum enjoyment and comfort for fans. “Soccer and music are global passions and that is going to be the predominant programming in this building,” says Sakiewicz. The stadium has several unique characteristics that aren’t often found in other stadiums of its size. Every seat in the $130 million stadium will be under a roof, which will not only keep fans protected from the weather, but the roof will enhance the sound of concerts and other events at the stadium. Another unique characteristic is the lower bowl portion of the stadium, which is only 12 rows deep with approximately 9,000 seats. This configuration makes it possible to place the luxury suites only 12 rows off of the playing surface and off the concert stage. “The luxury seats will be right in the middle of the action and there is no building in the U.S. that has its luxury suites that close to the playing surface, and there is really no building in America that has that many seats under cover,” says Sakiewicz. The stadium will also feature two tremendous clubs for its patrons. One club will be situated on the left side of the stadium and will seat approximately 650 people, and the other will be located on the north side of the stadium, seating approximately 450 people with views of the field right behind the north-end goal. “They are both very uniquely designed, very high-end clubs for our club-seat holders and suite holders,” says Sakiewicz. The stadium, which prior to development was an abandoned industrial site for more than 20 years, is part of Harrison’s revitalization plan. “The soccer stadium will bring international exposure to the development and it will also bring in jobs and business opportunities going forward,” says Sakiewicz. “The Chelsea soccer team from London, one the top soccer clubs in the world, is already booked for 2008, and many other major international soccer teams all want to come here because it is easy to get to and it will be a world-class soccer stadium.” — Stephanie Mayhew