COVER STORY, MAY 2007

THE RETAIL EVOLUTION
Retail developments find their way into new markets.
Stephanie Mayhew

The old adage retail follows rooftops continues to ring true in the Northeast. Today, developers are creating unique retail environments among this densely populated and high barrier to entry region. This month, Northeast Real Estate Business profiled five different retail developments throughout some of the Northeast growing districts.

The Crossings at Conestoga Creek

The Crossings at Conestoga Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, will feature 125 different retailers.

The Crossings at Conestoga Creek is a new 650,000-square-foot, mixed-use, open-air lifestyle center set in the idyllic farming community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The center will feature fast casual restaurants and café dining, specialty shops, entertainment venues, a national multiplex theater and large format stores for category retailers that will include a specialty supermarket and a department store. Overall, High Real Estate Group’s retail development will contain 125 different retailers. The pedestrian friendly development, which is set on 85 acres, is designed with an inner Main Street core that will be surrounded by larger format stores. Special amenities include an outdoor fireplace gathering area, lush landscaping, seating areas with benches, extensive and distinctive walkways, outdoor dining areas and pleasant background music throughout the center. Steven Evans, managing director of High Real Estate Group’s retail division, says, “This environment is going to provide an experience for retailers that is very different from any environment that exists in south central Pennsylvania. The Main Street will feature high quality construction, an amenity-rich streetscape and pocket parks with gathering areas for people to sit and relax.”

Designed by Greenfield Architects, affiliates of High Real Estate Group, the retail center is located at the intersection of Route 30 adjacent to Park City Center, a 1.4 million-square-foot enclosed regional mall. “This mall is considered ‘the mall’ to shop at in Lancaster County, so the area is already a well-established retail shopping center destination,” remarks Evans. Lancaster County, which has been growing dramatically, has an MSA population of 500,000. The average income in 2006 was $65,215 and by 2011 that figure is projected to grow to $66,186. “This area has a very strong economy, a very low unemployment rate and a growing affluence, all strong demographics for the key retailers that we expect to attract to the project,” says Evans.

Despite the rapid residential growth in the area, Evans notes the Lancaster County is very understored and underserved based on national benchmarks. “There is a shortfall of roughly 2.1 million square feet of retail relative to national averages for a market of this size,” says Evan. Evans also notes that many of the national retailers are not present in this market because there has not been a place for them to position themselves; thus, many shoppers travel to Philadelphia or Baltimore to shop those kind of retailers or to participate in leisure activities, dining and entertainment.

Lancaster County focuses heavily on Smart Growth principles and the preservation of farmland, which directly impacts the availability of sites for development. “This particular site is within the urban core and is industrially zoned, but we were able to introduce and have adopted, a new zoning ordinance that allows for planned commercial development such as The Crossings at Conestoga Creek,” says Evans. “The concept of the open-air, mixed-use lifestyle center has been very well received by the community, and the Township has also embraced our concept in terms of this type of development.” The developers believe that The Crossings at Conestoga Creek will bring about needed transportation infrastructure improvements that will not only benefit this project but also the gateway corridor of Harrisburg Pike from the interchange at Route 30 into the city of Lancaster. Groundbreaking for the $100 million development is scheduled for 2008 with a delivery date of 2010. 

Edison Town Square

Edison Town Square is a mixed-use lifestyle center in Edison, New Jersey, with approximately 400,000 square feet of retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Along the Route 1 corridor in Edison, New Jersey, Hartz Mountain Industries is set to construct Edison Town Square, a mixed-use lifestyle center. The approximately 400,000-square-foot center will feature a mix of retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues as well as office space and a hotel. The center will contain big-box and medium-box space along with a lifestyle center component, giving shoppers everything from hard goods to high-end fashion. Plans also include pad sites for six restaurants, a health club, an 18 theatre multi-plex cinema and a 60,000-square-foot community center that is being donated by Hartz Mountain as part of the development. Other amenities include unique common spaces that will be conducive to keeping the shoppers and customers on the site for an extended period of time.

Gus Milano, executive vice president of finance and leasing for Hartz Mountain Industries, notes, “The character and the density of the center has been designed with the input from the community.” Situated on a 97-acre site that was formerly home to a Ford plant, the new development will help reduce traffic, provide increased landscape areas, improve the architectural and environmental aesthetics of the site and provide greater tax revenue for Edison as well as more than 2,000 new jobs.

The site is one of the last large contiguous parcels of land on the Route 1 corridor in central New Jersey. ”There are very few opportunities to acquire that size of an assemblage in such a densely populated area. There is really not going to be anything like this type of center in the area,” says Milano. The tenant focus for Edison Town Square will be predominantly national retailers, many of which have already pre-commited to the development. “The demographics of the surrounding area support all of the retailers who have interest in the lifestyle center and mid-size boxes,” says Milano.

Ivy Ridge

Ivy Ridge, located along Ridge Avenue in Philadelphia, will contain 107,000 square feet of retail space.

New Plan is currently redeveloping an outdated retail center in the densely populated Ridge Avenue area of Philadelphia. Upon completion, Ivy Ridge, located along Ridge Avenue and Domino Lane, will contain approximately 107,000 square feet of retail space. Originally built in the 1960s, New Plan purchased the site in 1995. After extensive planning, development began on the site in April 2003. According to Mike Carroll, executive vice president of real estate operations for New Plan, the first order of business was to devise a way to update the 28,000-square-foot Super Fresh grocery store in order to incorporate its new Fresh Store concept.

The solution was to knock the old store down entirely and start from scratch. The result was a 47,288-square-foot store, which is the first ground-up store that Super Fresh has done in the market in more than 8 years. The developers also reconfigured the remainder of the shopping center, put all new façade on the center and overhauled the parking area to maximize space and to accommodate the new prototype grocery store. In addition to the new grocery store, the site will also contain specialty retail shops with a focus on junior women’s apparel. 

Carroll notes that New Plan was eager to redevelop Ivy Ridge because of the density of the location and its high barriers to entry. “There is no other land available for development in this area because of the terrain and the density, so there is no other place for those retail dollars to be captured,” remarks Carroll. “As part of the business improvement district, Ivy Ridge will be a catalyst for more investment in the corridor.” The entire area is also undergoing a revitalization, which only adds to the cache of this popular neighborhood. The $10 million project is slated for completion in November.

Providence Town Center

In the Upper Providence Township in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, the Brandolini Companies is currently developing Providence Town Center, an approximately 725,000-square-foot lifestyle center. Once complete, Providence Town Center will include approximately 250,000 square feet of Main Street retail type shops, approximately 270,000 square feet of junior shops, several restaurant and bank pads and 3,742 parking spaces. In addition, a 45,000-square-foot fitness center and other entertainment type components have been proposed.  Located just 7 miles northwest of the King of Prussia Mall, the site is situated along Route 422 and Route 29 just northwest of Philadelphia within a major suburban corridor that is experiencing explosive residential and commercial growth. Construction is scheduled to commence this summer and is slated for delivery in first quarter 2009.

According to Brandon Famous, chief executive officer and founder of Fameco Real Estate, the company in charge of leasing the massive center, the area surrounding the retail development has grown significantly during the last 10 years and for a period of time it was one of the fastest growing corridor in the area. This explosive growth is largely due to the three major pharmaceutical companies that are adjacent to the site. At one time, the site was slated for the development of a fourth pharmaceutical headquarters, but when that plan never came to fruition, the site was rezoned. “The Brandolini Companies chose to develop on this site because there is still a growing need in this region, the 422 corridor, for lifestyle retailers,” says Famous. “The area is a residential community that is supported by a growing office component, which is fueled by the pharmaceutical companies and the office component in King of Prussia that continues to move into the northwest region.” 

Tenants for the development will predominantly be national retailers with a smaller mix of regional and local specialty shops as well as an approximately 140,000-square-foot specialty grocery store tenant. According to Famous, many of the national retailers that are located in the King of Prussia Mall will be able to set up stores at Providence Town Center and be equally successful because of the richness of the surrounding demographics. The center will serve the 422 corridor, which is significant in terms of residential population, but because of the convenience of the location of the center off of the 422 corridor, Famous notes that the center will also be a draw for all surrounding residential neighborhoods.

The Shops at Centuria

The Shops at Centuria is a 126,000-square-foot retail center that is part of the 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use development, Centuria at Fort Lee in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Substantial retail components are also popping up in mixed-use developments throughout the Northeast. The Shops of Centuria is a 126,000-square-foot retail center that is part of the 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use development, Centuria at Fort Lee in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In addition to the retail component, the $1 billion Centuria at Fort Lee will also include a four-star hotel, 90,000 square feet of office space, a 60,000-square-foot conference center, 1.2 million square feet of residential space and two parking decks. Other amenities include a sports bar, a movie theater and the History of Filmmaking Museum.

Developed by Whiteweld & Company, the 16-acre site, which sat vacant for 30 years, is part of a revitalization of Fort Lee. Situated in close proximity to the George Washington Bridge and New York City, the Shops at Centuria will include high-end and casual restaurants, a high-end spa and health club, regional and national boutique shops and high-end clothing retailers. According to John J. Johnson, president of Centuria Corp., they are in discussion with various retailers such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Fresh Market and the Garden of Eden. Intended to serve the immediate growing population, the shops will meet the increasing demand for urban settings in which people can live, work and play all in one area.

Designed by Gensler Architects, the highly anticipated project broke ground in mid-2006 with construction scheduled to begin in July 2007. “The concept has been well received in the community due to the fact that a lot that sat vacant for 30 years will now become the leading component of Fort Lee’s revitalization,” says Johnson. “Centuria at Fort Lee and The Shops at Centuria revitalizes downtown Fort Lee, increases revenue to community, creates jobs, raises value of all Fort Lee property and provides a convenient lifestyle choice.”


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