COVER STORY, JUNE 2006

RETAIL REDEVELOPMENTS
Developers hope to turn around struggling centers.
Lara Fuller

With little land left for new development in many Southern cities, developers are hoping to convert struggling centers into successful ventures.

Many urban areas of the Southeast have been booming for years now, seeing growth in all sectors of the marketplace. While the development of new shopping centers is often necessary to keep up with the growing demand, the issue of land availability is becoming a problem for many developers. As many prime areas of the Southeast are almost completely built out, there is little room left for new developments. To solve this problem, many developers are turning to redevelopment. While some centers only need a facelift to reposition themselves in the market, others need to be torn down and completely rebuilt. Southeast Real Estate Business recently took a look at redevelopment projects in two highly populated markets to see how the developers plan to bring new life to old centers.

MIRACLE PLAZA

Talisman Companies is developing Miracle Plaza, a vertical retail center, in Coral Gables, Florida. Two previous retail centers have occupied the site.

Based on this need, Talisman is currently developing Miracle Plaza, located at 3301 Coral Way in Miami, just east of Coral Gables. Miracle Plaza will be located on the site of an almost-vacant center, which originally opened in 1989. After struggling for a number of years, the center was repositioned in the late 1990s as Paseos, but still failed to attract strong retailers or large number of shoppers. Talisman Companies hopes that the approach it is taking with Miracle Plaza will change that.

Miracle Plaza will differ from its predecessors in that it will be a 247,000-square-foot vertical retail center. The first three levels of the building will feature retail and parking will be located on the four levels above that.

“The lack of available land required creativity through using the existing building and designing vertical retail,” Schlesinger says. Because the new project will be vertical, as opposed to the traditional horizontal center, Talisman Companies and the project architect, Beam Architectural Partnerships, had to thoroughly plan how to make the center accessible in order to satisfy retailers and potential shoppers. “Taking an existing building and remodeling it for this type of use is very challenging,” Schlesinger says. “To meet these challenges, the center will feature several design elements to aid in customer convenience, including vermaports that will transport a person’s cart to another level, a helix circular drive to the five levels of parking, plus a new system of vertical transport,” he adds. In order to provide retailers with significant exposure, the exterior of the building will also feature billboard treatments.

Though Miracle Plaza is different than most of the centers located nearby, Talisman Companies had no problem attracting a range of retailers. Tenants at Miracle Plaza will include Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetsMart, DSW, OfficeMax, Michaels, and Ulta, as well as a range of specialty stores and restaurants. Bally Total Fitness, the only tenant remaining at the old center, will also be a part of the new Miracle Plaza.

The project is expected to be completed in summer 2007.

MERCHANT’S FESTIVAL

Merchant’s Festival will be redeveloped this year in the East Cobb County suburb of Atlanta. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2007.

This was the case with the original Merchant’s Festival center, located at the corner of Johnson Ferry and Roswell roads. The A&P-anchored center first opened in 1982, but was unable to compete with other centers in recent years. “During the past decade or so, the center has struggled with tenant turnover and marketability, despite its prime location,” says Mark Toro, partner with Cincinnati-based North American Properties, which is handling the redevelopment of Merchant’s Festival. “The redevelopment plans will capitalize on the site, provide a much-needed architectural overhaul, and bring one of the nation’s leading retailers, Target, to East Cobb.”

The redevelopment process began at the beginning of the year and is expected to be completed by fall 2007. During construction, which is being handled by Batson-Cook Construction, approximately 37,000 square feet of the existing center will remain open. When completed, the new Merchant’s Festival will feature 220,000 square feet, which is 70,000 square feet larger than the original center. Target will anchor the development, which will also feature a range of retailers and restaurants. “The redevelopment plans also include a two-level parking deck,” Toro says. “The entrance to Target will be situated on the upper level of the parking deck, on grade with Johnson Ferry and Roswell roads, effectively concealing more than half of the parking below ground.”

Atlanta-based Phillips Partnership is designing the center, which will feature varied building finishes, metal awnings, wall sconces and other ornamental embellishments. “The progressive architecture reflects the surrounding premier East Cobb communities,” Toro says. “Lush landscaping, park benches and street lights also create an atmosphere ideal for strolling the storefronts after an evening dinner.”

Toro believes that the overhaul will be just what the center needs to compete with surrounding centers and retailers. “It’s the right location with the right tenants at the right time,” Toro says. “Anchored by Target, long coveted by the East Cobb community, Merchant’s Festival is at Main and Main for retail development in Northwest Atlanta.”

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