CITY HIGHLIGHT, APRIL 2007

JACKSON CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Andrew Mattiace, John Lawrence

Jackson Retail Market

The mixed-use trend has hit the radar screen of the Jackson metropolitan area.

For example, Fondren Place (Mattiace-Peters Development) in the historic Fondren neighborhood of Jackson is the second contribution to the Fondren area by the development team. The renovated Duling School will house eclectic and interesting shops, galleries and restaurants. New buildings will flank each side of the school and will include office, retail, restaurants and condominiums.

Also, Township at Colony Park (Kerioth) is a uniquely master-planned mixed-use community located on approximately 95 acres along Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland. This unique development is the combination of New Urbanism and traditional neighborhood development philosophies. The Township offers an alternative to suburban sprawl by providing residences, public spaces, shopping, offices, and recreation within walking distance of a vibrant town center.

Flowood Town Center (Trademark /Neopolis Development Group, LLC /Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company) is being planned as a traditional neighborhood development, which will be both a residential and professional office town center comprised of approximately 140 acres including a 28-acre lake. The project is expected to be a $325 million development that will be completely built over 10 years. It will have an estimated 650 residences and between 750,000 and 1 million square feet of commercial space.

Renaissance at Colony Park

In addition, lifestyle projects are also being developed. Renaissance at Colony Park (Mattiace Properties, Inc./H.C. Bailey Co.), opening in the spring of 2008, brings the Main Street concept to Ridgeland. The open-air center will have Mediterranean influences with green common areas, lavish landscaping, water features, sidewalk cafes and music. All of these elements come together to create a vibrant destination offering the visitor a unique environment second to none in this region in terms of an exciting shopping, dining and entertainment experience. When completed, the project will consist of 500,000 square feet of building space on 57 acres. Committed tenants for the center are P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, Fresh Market, Barnes & Noble, Talbots, J. Jill, Ethan Allen, Ann Taylor Loft, Williams-Sonoma, White House/Black Market and a Hyatt Place Hotel.

Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse opening on County Line Road in Ridgeland solidified the infrastructure improvements and retail hub, and the County Line Road revitalization project is complete. The connection from Interstate 55 to Old Canton Road will be complete this fall to insure viability of existing County Line Road businesses and Northpark Mall. All of this came about as a joint venture between the cities of Ridgeland and Jackson. Lowe’s also opened on Highway 18 to take advantage of the south Jackson retail corridor.

Other projects impacting the metro area are the commencement of construction of Renaissance at Colony Park as well as the opening of Cellular South Headquarters and the planned two eight-story office complexes in fall 2007 at I-55 and Highland Colony Parkway. Downtown Jackson’s announcement of Parkway Properties mid-rise office and mixed-use development, The Pinnacle at Jackson Place, will serve as the cornerstone of Jackson’s downtown revival. The eight-story, 175,000-square-foot property will sit at the corner of Capitol and Lamar streets, and anchor the transformation of an entire city block in the Capital City’s business district to be known as Jackson Place. The design, materials and amenities will make this one of the finest structures in the region.

Rental rates for Class A office space in the area are approximately $24 per square foot. For retail, rates run between $16 and $28 per square foot depending on the age of the center, tenant improvement allowances and percentage rents.

Activity has been brisk in the suburban markets, particularly on the Lakeland Drive/Highway 25 corridor.  The last quadrant in Flowood is being planned in Rankin County near Dogwood Festival Market.

In Clinton, The Home Depot has recently located there to complement this college town with its local brick streets. Other major retailers are sure to follow.

In Madison, look for the city’s planned town center, envisioned with unique architecture and future home for restaurants, high-end boutiques, condominiums and top-quality office space.  On either side of Highway 463 at Interstate 55, there is Galleria Parkway (Parkway Development, Inc.) on the north and Madison Grandview (Mattiace Properties, Inc.) on the south, where Malco Theater is hitting its stride and Ashley Home Furniture will open in 2008. On the west side of I-55, Kroger is opening to join The Home Depot as an anchor at Colony Crossing (Ergon–Frazier Development).

In Ridgeland, along with the Renaissance at Colony Park lifestyle center, and Township at Colony Park, there is continued development of Olde Towne Center in the historic overlay district. There is also lots of activity on Ridgeland’s Lake Harbor Drive corridor with the development of Lake Harbour Village and Gatti Town (Cress Development, LLC)— French Acadian-style colonnade center including 69,000 square feet of specialty shops, retail services and restaurants, highlighted by a 25,000-square-foot children’s entertainment complex.

In the Gluckstadt community, Neu Markt (Gluckstadt Properties) will be a 200-acre designer outlet mall. Retail stores will occupy more than 1 million square feet. There will be eight free-standing restaurants, a hotel, fast food and numerous other shopping venues.

— Andrew Mattiace is president of Jackson, Mississippi-based The Mattiace Company / Mattiace Properties, Inc.

Jackson Multifamily Market

While Downtown Jackson continues to gain momentum, many other desirable areas for multifamily developers are facing obstacles.  Communities in the north submarket have been creating zoning that allows little or no apartment construction due to perceived conflicts with single-family growth.  Most of the city of Jackson has faced temporary moratoriums helping some neighborhoods fight what many believe to be low-income targeted projects.  But in all cases, development successes are breaking through.

With the completion of Electric 308 and The Plaza building, downtown’s core is now leading the market with rents ranging from $0.95 to $1.25 per square foot monthly and a 98 percent occupancy rate. Both the Tombigbee Lofts and the Foundry Lofts are now under construction. The Tombigbee Lofts, developed by Peters Real Estate/Crymes Pitman, is the historic restoration of a two-story former office building and an adjacent paint warehouse. Units will average 900 square feet. The Foundry Lofts, developed by Studio Loft Developers/Pat Piggot, is being constructed in a former machineworks building. Units will range from 700 to 2,700 square feet and have indoor parking on the first floor.

The Library Lofts, being developed by Duckworth Realty, are likely to start construction before summer. The former King Edward Hotel is moving closer to a construction start as environmental remediation wraps up, making way for conversion of this property. Most of these projects are being driven by a new State of Mississippi Historic Preservation Tax Credit program.

New construction of multifamily housing is also on the horizon for Downtown Jackson. Parkway Properties is spearheading Jackson Place as a full block development that will include an existing office building, a new 180,000 square foot office building breaking ground in June, refurbished parking structure and public parkspace.  In addition, the Residences at Jackson Place are being designed to fill a remaining half acre portion of the property in the heart of Downtown.  At the eastern Gateway to Downtown, Old Capitol Green continues to gain momentum. This four-block area is being organized by Full Spectrum of New York to be anchored by significant multifamily residential mixed with a hotel, office and retail space.

The northern submarkets in metro Jackson area have seen multifamily starts drop. However, projects like the Veranda Townhomes and the Avenue Condominiums developed by the Kerioth Corporation are bringing multifamily living to traditionally low density, single-family areas.  New Urbanism practices are being employed to create a town center adjacent to these new homes. Other proposed developments like Harbor Walk at the Reservoir are planning to create high density condominiums in a resort environment overlooking a marina.

The south Jackson area is seeing single-family residential at lower price points supplant multi-family opportunities. The Valley Park Subdivision is being structured as a lease-to-own development of 80 houses averaging $114,000.  This development is in an area that has faced great opposition from neighbors toward multi-family proposals.

Jackson State University continues to create excitement with residential projects.  Off-campus apartments have been a success, on-campus dormitory construction is underway and Unidev is planning significant commercial and single-family infill around the area.

— John Lawrence is president of Jackson, Mississippi-based Downtown Jackson Partners.


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