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FEATURE ARTICLE, MAY 2011
RETAIL PROJECTS
Acadia's City Point
Acadia Realty Trust and Washington Square Partners are developing City Point, a development that will include 550,000 square feet of retail space as well as development rights for three residential towers, at Fulton Street and DeKalb Avenue in the Fulton Street Mall in downtown Brooklyn, New York.
The first phase will include 50,000 square feet of retail on Fulton Street and will open in early summer 2012. The second phase, totaling 500,000 square feet, will open in 2014.
ACRS, Inc., a subsidiary of Acadia Realty Trust, is serving as general contractor for the first phase of the project. SLCE is the architect of record, Greenberg Farrow is retail architect, and Cook + Fox is design architect for City Point.
This project will serve tremendous demand for retail in the area. “Within a 1-mile radius of City Point there are 120,000 residents, 100,000 business employees and 57,000 college students. The Fulton Mall is one of the busiest shopping streets in the city with retail sales of more than $1,200 per square foot and 100,000 shoppers per day. Once home to numerous department stores, the area has been under-retailed for many, many years,” says Paul Travis, principal with Washington Square Partners.
Over the past five years, downtown Brooklyn has experienced incredible growth and change, he adds. “Numerous residential towers have been built, containing more than 4,500 new residential units and housing more than 12,000 new residents. Recently, national retailers like H&M, Aeropostale, Shake Shack, Panera Bread, and Aldo have opened or announced plans to open stores on or near Fulton Street. These retailers are attracted to downtown Brooklyn’s density and high income levels in addition to Fulton Street’s historically high retail sales volumes. Today, as we contemplate the project’s ideal merchandise mix, the prospective tenant pool has expanded significantly."
Washington Square is handling leasing for the property. The company is looking to sign a wide variety of fashion-oriented and home furnishing tenants, as well as restaurants that will add to the already vibrant mix of shopping available on Fulton Street.
— Jaime Lackey
Westfield Trumbull
Australia-based Westfield Group has completed a $35 million revitalization project at the 1.2 million-square-foot Westfield Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut.
The project included new exterior façades and entryways, a new family lounge and play space and a new café-style dining terrace. Retailers that have opened at the center recently include Sephora, Panera Bread, Metropark and Teavana. Among tenants coming in 2011 are H&M, J. Crew and L.A. Fitness.
"We've enhanced the center both inside and out and are very excited to show off the new Westfield Trumbull," said Bryan Gaus, General Manager for the shopping center. "Our customers are discovering a new dimension in shopping, dining and amenities."
He adds, “Westfield Trumbull is an already strong, productive center. However, its Westfield’s philosophy and practice continually invest — and reinvest — in its shopping centers, by adding new elements and energy to keep them vital, vibrant, productive and relevant for our customers and our community.”
The revitalization project also included a comprehensive program to reduce energy consumption and institute eco-friendly practices.
Westfield has installed new energy efficient lamps and low-e glass skylights, as well as a new cooling system. Renovated restrooms have hygienic, high-speed hand dryers and have partitions made of stainless steel, which consists of 85 percent recycled materials. The center has also instituted a recycling program that will transform grease from the center’s eateries into BioDiesel, a clean-burning alternative fuel.
Through its new eco-friendly programs, Westfield Trumbull will reduce its energy consumption by 3 million kilowatt hours and reduce its carbon footprint by approximately 200 cubic tons annually. This decrease in energy consumption is the equivalent of removing 412 cars off the road per year or electricity powering 261 homes for 12 months.
—Jaime Lackey
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