New developments
Sacramento, Calif. — Creekside Town Center is near completion. The power center's first phase, anchored by Best Buy, Babies ‘R’ Us, Barnes & Noble and Old Navy, is already complete. Phase II, which will bring the center's GLA to 370,000 sq. ft., is slated to open this summer. Tenants signed for Phase II include Michael's, Marshall's and Nordstrom Rack. The center is under development by a joint venture between Newport Beach, Calif.-based Donahue Schriber and locally based Evergreen Britannia Pacific. Construction on the center's 41-acre site began in October 1999.
Chestnut Hill, Mass. — Locally based WS Development Associates LLC recently broke ground on The Crossing at Smithfield, a 600,000-sq.-ft. power center. Anchored by a 150,000-sq.-ft. Home Depot, a 123,000-sq.-ft. Target and a Kohl's department store, The Crossing at Smithfield's tenant lineup includes Gap, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Linens ‘N Things and AnnTaylor Loft.
Site work is currently underway and building construction is scheduled to begin this summer. The balance of the center's tenants will open by August 2002.
Huntington Beach, Calif. — Construction has begun on the third and final phase of the $45 million Seacliff Village shopping center. The 258,000-sq.-ft. project will be anchored by a 23,942-sq.-ft. Staples and will feature a new food court area. Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Shea Properties and Los Angeles-based Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund are joint venture partners in the project. Other tenants at the center include Albertsons, Blockbuster and Del Taco.
Redevelopments
Las Vegas — Locally based Laurich Properties Inc. and the Molasky Cos. are redeveloping the 28-year-old Park Place shopping center. The $16 million revitalization effort will be anchored by a 60,000-sq.-ft. Vons grocery market and fueling center. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank is providing construction financing for the project, while locally based Perlman Architects Inc. performs design duties. Park Place is scheduled to open for business this November.
Rochester Hills, Mich. — Meadowbrook Village, a 350,000-sq.-ft. lifestyle center, is under development by locally based Robert B. Aikens & Associates. The center, billed as the first lifestyle streetscape concept in the state, will create a downtown and serve as a destination for the suburb's affluent consumers. A 120,000-sq.-ft. Parisian will anchor the center. AnnTaylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, Eddie Bauer, Talbots and Banana Republic will comprise the tenant lineup. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based JPRA serves as architect for the project, which is scheduled for completion in spring 2002.
St. Louis, Mo. — Blue Devil Ventures of Durham, N.C., has commissioned locally based architects Kiku Obata & Co. to facilitate the renovation of downtown's Welsh Baby Carriage Building. The developers want to transform the five-level former manufacturing site into four levels of loft apartments with street-level retail. The 194,000-sq.-ft. building is more than a century old. The project is expected to be completed within the year.
Renovations
Los Angeles — The 17-year-old Westside Pavilion recently unveiled the results of its $8 million renovation. Completed in less than six months, the project was designed to give the 750,000-sq.-ft. property's enclosed mall area a look befitting its affluent west L.A. clientele. Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer The Macerich Co. upgraded the center with the addition of more than 100,000 sq. ft. of German limestone floor tile to the common area.
New black granite curbing, clear-glass railing panels, seating, signs, ceilings, light fixtures and a set of escalators were also added. Macerich replaced mall and tenant signage with a new, comprehensive environmental graphics program. Anchored by Robinsons-May and Nordstrom, the rejuvenated Westside Pavilion boasts a 98% occupancy rate and average specialty store sales of $425 per sq. ft.
Baltimore — Locally based Brown & Craig Inc. has been selected by Southern Management Corp. to design a mixed-use expansion and renovation to Charles Plaza. The revitalized urban center will include approximately 40,000 sq. ft. of retail, 30,000 sq. ft. of office space and 400 apartments. The plaza and residential towers will rest atop a six-level parking structure. Charles Plaza first opened in 1985 as an upscale neighborhood center. Construction is set to begin this summer.
Chicago — After 70 years in business, Century Shopping Centre has a new look for the millennium. The former downtown movie palace and vaudeville theater is now an entertainment center featuring 200,000 sq. ft. of GLA, a seven-screen theater complex with stadium seating and a 50,000-sq.-ft. Bally Total Fitness Center.
The $15.5 million renovation was orchestrated by locally based architects Loebl Schlossman & Hackl for the property's developers, locally based Hiffman Shaffer Associates and Lake Shore Development. The center's new high-tech, sky-lit interior is juxtaposed with its 1920s Arabesque exterior. The architects abstracted elements of the original terra cotta façade and introduced them to various building exteriors to unify the center's overall appearance. A newly expanded entry canopy, along with vibrant signage, provides a grand marquee for the Century name.
Durham, N.C. — Locally based Northgate Associates Limited Partnership is renovating its 805,288-sq.-ft. Northgate Mall. Improvements to the center will include a lighter, brighter and more inviting common area with new porcelain tile, wooden benches and new fabrics and colors. Common area retailers will operate out of innovative “mini-kiosks” that can be assembled to suit each tenant's merchandising need. Updated display cubes will offer merchants the opportunity to display their wares throughout the mall.
Strategically placed directories and an enlarged customer service center will assist shoppers in navigating the mall. Raleigh, N.C.-based Lineberry Architectural Group serves as architect for the renovation. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wachovia is providing financing. The 40-year-old property, whose anchors include Hecht's, Harris Teeter, Belk and Sears, was last renovated in 1993.
Sunnyvale, Calif. — The former Sunnyvale Town Center, which was built in the 1960s, is not only receiving a $68 million expansion and renovation but also a new name to boot. Silicon Valley WAVE — an acronym for Walk and Village Entertainment — will be reconfigured through the closure of a street entrance and converted to a village-style development. Construction is under way on the Bay Area property, and doors are scheduled to open in July 2001. Upon completion, the center will increase to almost 1 million sq. ft.
The centerpiece of the revamped center will be a state-of-the-art multiplex theater. Modifications to the existing mall will include partial demolition of a block-long parking garage that will become part of the entertainment village. Two new freestanding anchors, Old Navy and Barnes & Noble, will highlight the 380,000-sq.-ft. entertainment venue.
The village-style component of Silicon Valley WAVE also will have 120,000 sq. ft. of in-line retail space. The project is funded by the city of Sunnyvale; Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based American Mall Properties; and Irvine, Calif.-based developer Snyder Langston.