FEATURE ARTICLE, MAY 2004

MIXED-USE SPOTLIGHT
Jaime Lackey

Metropica Sunrise, Florida JV Developers, a partnership between Miami-based K-Group Holdings and Coral Gables, Florida-based Codina Group, is developing Metropica, a 65-acre mixed-use development at Sunrise Boulevard and Panther Parkway in Sunrise, Florida. The $160 million first phase will cover 26 acres and will include 500,000 square feet of office space in four buildings, 363 condominium residences in two eight-story towers and a 60,500-square-foot upscale restaurant village featuring five free-standing restaurants and retail pavilions. Groundbreaking will be in May, with infrastructure for the first phase complete by the end of this year. The condos, the first office building and restaurants will commence construction late this year or in early 2005. Codina Development will develop the office buildings; Codina Construction will be the general contractor. The design plans for the speculative office buildings are currently underway. Occupancy in the office buildings is slated for the end of 2005, and the space will target professional corporate users needing 5,000 square feet or more. Full-floor users will occupy about 23,000 square feet. Residential condominium units will average 1,300 square feet, and will range from $250,000 to $450,000. The developers are pursuing diverse restaurant tenants such as an Asian bar and grill, a Brazilian steakhouse, an Italian trattoria and a New York-style lounge and martini bar. Jeffrey Sussman of Sussman Restaurant Brokerage is the exclusive marketing agent for the Restaurant Village. Richard Heapes of Street-Works created the conceptual land plan. Architecture firm Cooper Carry designed the office complex. EDSA is also part of the design team.

Main Street at South River Colony Edgewater, Maryland Main Street at South River Colony is a $25 million, 9-acre development in the 1,400-acre South River Colony master-planned community in Edgewater, Maryland, just south of Annapolis. Exxon Development Corporation developed the existing community in the early 1990s; it features $1 million homes, luxury townhomes, a 225-unit active adult community and a retail component. The Main Street development is located on Mitchells Chance Road, near the intersection of Maryland Route 2 and Maryland Route 214. It will include a four-story office building, which will deliver in fourth quarter 2004, and six retail buildings totaling 126,000 square feet. Annapolis Developers LLC has completed the first three retail buildings at the Main Street at South River Colony. The Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre, a 200-seat restaurant, opened in November 2003 and occupies a 7,400-square-foot building. Several retailers have opened including Blockbuster Video, Coffee Beanery, House of Frederick (a furniture store), Liz Lind Editions (an art gallery), Peepers Family Eye Care Center, Shore Living (an outdoor furniture/fixtures shop), Tropical Exposure (a tanning salon) and Big Chicks Little Chicks (a maternity and infant clothing shop). Body Wellness (a day spa and salon) will open by early May, while ReMax Innovations is scheduled to open later this year. Manekin LLC will handle leasing and management at Main Street at South River Colony. Waverly Construction is the general contractor. Rosenburg A+1 designed The Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre building. Martin Architectural Group designed the remaining buildings. The development offers a visual appeal in that several of the buildings will be modeled after specific downtown Annapolis buildings, including one 48,000-square-foot office building resembling the municipal building and two buildings resembling the bank and fire station, which will each house retail and restaurant space. Rosenburg A+1 designed the firehouse building, which is scheduled for delivery at the end of the summer. Main Street at South River Colony is also local to amenities at South River Colony, including the 250,000-square-foot Market, the local post office and police station, and the Anne Arundel County Library. Additionally, the development offers retailers attractive demographics in a 3-mile radius: a 2001 population count of 20,500 with an average household income of $98,500.

Northshore Town Center Knoxville, Tennessee Northshore Town Center is a 141-acre mixed-use development on what is known locally as the old Sterchi farm, located at Northshore Drive and Pellissippi Parkway in Knoxville, Tennessee. The $180 million New Urbanism development will include single-family homes, townhomes, retail shops, entertainment venues, offices and a hotel. Charleston, South Carolina-based James Doran Company is developing the project, which will feature an architectural style similar to the historic districts of Charleston. The center’s Main Street will have two-story buildings featuring ground-floor retail with offices and residences on the upper levels. The development will feature 300,000 square feet of office space; 225,000 square feet of big box retailer space; 175,000 square feet of small shop space; a 65,000-square-foot, 16-screen theater; 40,000 square feet of restaurants; 450 apartment units; 150 townhomes; and 120 single-family lots. Construction will begin this year with retail portions to be constructed first. Companies on the project team include Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon (civil engineering/traffic engineering); Design: Clark (a graphic design company); Design Works (land planning); Gibson & Associates (residential architect); Walter M. Kulash and Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart (traffic engineering); The Housing Studio (residential architect); Randall-Paulson Architects (project architect); and RTKL (architect).

River Garden New Orleans, Louisiana The River Garden mixed-use redevelopment project, formerly known as the St. Thomas HOPE VI project, will include 100 condos, 322 senior housing units, 73 for-sale homes, 531 apartment units, 240,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, a 3-acre park and 150 off-site housing units. The 61-acre site is located along the Mississippi River near downtown New Orleans. Historic Restoration Inc. (HRI) is developing the project; HCI Construction and Design is HRI Group’s in-house staff of architects, interior designers and construction managers. The first phase of the project will include 296 mixed-income housing units. Roemer Developments is developing a continuing care retirement community at the project site. Wal-Mart is constructing a 200,000-square-foot Supercenter, which will open in early fall. The second phase of the project will include 200 mixed-income housing units and 40,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space. Chan Krieger & Associates and Billes/Manning are handling the architecture and master planning for the second phase. HCI plans to begin construction on the second phase in summer 2005.

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