COVER STORY, OCTOBER 2006

RESIDENTIAL EQUALS RETAIL
Retail follows residential development in Southeast.
Daniel Beaird

Retail developers are constantly searching for the next boom area. Some boom areas are obvious to the average consumer while other areas are not. Whether the next boom area is in a suburban submarket or in a revitalized downtown, developers are always trying to stay ahead of the curve. Southeast Real Estate Business recently spoke with some developers about their new projects and their locations in the Southeast. These developments include Stirling Bossier Shopping Center in Bossier City, Louisiana; Renaissance at Colony Park in Jackson, Mississippi; Coleman MarketPlace in Danville, Virginia; and Oakleaf Town Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

Stirling Bossier Shopping Center

Stirling Properties is developing the 650,000-square-foot Stirling Bossier Shopping Center in Bossier City, Louisiana. Since Hurricane Katrina last year, Louisiana has experienced a shift in population. Bossier, located close to Shreveport, Louisiana, is benefiting from an expanded population as retail developers will always follow the masses. Stirling Bossier Shopping Center is being developed as a regional power shopping center with lifestyle and entertainment components. The anchor tenants will include Target, Best Buy, Ross Dress For Less, Belk, Bed Bath & Beyond and Office Depot.

“Construction began in March and the first anchors will open next July,” says Lewis Stirling III, a partner of Stirling Properties. Phase II is expected to open in fall 2007. Along with the anchor tenants, the shopping center will also include tenants Justice, Shoe Carnival, Catherine’s, After Hours Formal Wear, Lane Bryant/Cacique, Capital One, Chase, Chik-fil-A, Cingular, PJ’s Coffee & Wine Bar, Quizno’s and Serenity Spas. “Negotiations are also underway with a sporting goods retailer, a movie theater and restaurants,” Stirling says.

Stirling Bossier Shopping Center is located at the intersection of the Interstate 220 loop and Airline Drive. “This location is the best location in the city for traffic flow,” Stirling says. “All of the tenants wanted to locate to this prime location.” According to Stirling, the shopping center was developed in Bossier City due to its residential growth, income growth and tremendous traffic growth during the past 8 years. “The growth of the Shreveport/Bossier MSA is worthy of a two-store market to many national retailers,” Stirling says.

The majority of the growth in the Bossier City marketplace has been along the corridor bordered by Airline Drive and Benton Road. Airline Drive is undergoing a joint State of Louisiana and Parish of Bossier expansion project that widens the roadway from two lanes to five lanes. Road construction has been completed in the area immediately adjacent to Stirling Properties’ subject site. Traffic numbers have grown by more than 105 percent on I-220 during the past 5 years, and have grown by more than 31 percent on Airline Drive in the same time.  

Stirling Properties hopes to draw a regional consumer base to Stirling Bossier Shopping Center. “It will have great visibility along I-220 and Airline Drive; and it will offer discount, entertainment and lifestyle components to an area of Louisiana that is exploding in population,” Stirling says. “It will be a regional center that draws consumers from Shreveport, Bossier City and beyond.”

Renaissance at Colony Park

The 560,000-square-foot Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland, Mississippi

“The project has high visibility and easy accessibility from I-55 and Highland Colony Parkway,” says Andrew Mattiace, president of Mattiace Properties. The location is also in close proximity to I-220 and the Natchez Trace Parkway, which include some high income areas. “We had an assignment from P.F. Chang’s China Bistro to secure a location in the area,” Mattiace says. The site is the hub in which all major thoroughfares empty in the area. 

In addition to the anchor tenants as well as P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Renaissance at Colony Park will include tenants Williams Sonoma, Biaggi’s Restorante Italiano, Talbots, J.Jill, Ann Taylor Loft and White House/Black Market. Meanwhile, Mattiace Properties is negotiating with more tenants typically found in a lifestyle setting. “The lifestyle center will have a gourmet grocery store. Additional fashion merchants as well as cosmetics and skin care and gift and accessory stores will be included,” Mattiace says. Department and specialty stores are being targeted as well and will be included in the project. Additional restaurant sites are available also as well as second floor office space.

The architectural style for Renaissance at Colony Park has been derived from European and Mediterranean influences, utilizing a mix of classical features such as arched openings, clay tile roofs, and stone and stucco facades. A clock tower will be the focal point at the front entrance of the lifestyle center. Additional features will include a central square with fountain and a community green space that will allow for afternoon and evening entertainment and activity. 

“This type of Main Street shopping, dining and outdoor entertainment venue does not exist in the Jackson metropolitan area,” Mattiace says. The center expects to draw from an approximate 100-mile radius.

“Renaissance at Colony Park will succeed because of its location, its visibility, its accessibility, its fabulous merchandise mix and its fine dining,” Mattiace says. With more than 60 retail stores, projected retail sales will be approximately $162 million annually. Renaissance at Colony Park will employ approximately 600 full-time retail employees.

Coleman MarketPlace

In Danville, Virginia, North American Properties has plans to develop Coleman MarketPlace. The 450,000-square-foot retail center is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2007, with completion set for summer 2008. Anchor tenant negotiations are currently in progress. “North American Properties is working with retailers in various categories including discount department stores, home improvement stores, apparel, sporting goods, crafts and electronics,” says Tonya Creekmore, vice president of leasing for North American Properties. Six outparcels are planned for Coleman MarketPlace.

The project is strategically located on the extended Collins Drive, which fronts Central Boulevard across the street from Piedmont Mall in Danville. “Danville is one of the most underserved markets in southern Virginia with residents currently being forced to drive almost 1 hour to either Greensboro, North Carolina, or Lynchburg, Virginia, to shop,” Creekmore says. “The Danville market represents a major void for many national retailers.” North American Properties is seeking national and regional small shop retailers as well as national and regional restaurants to create a merchandise mix for the consumer.

“There are approximately 335,000 residents within Coleman MarketPlace’s trade area and that is predicted to increase even more with the addition of 500 homes planned or under development in the city,” Creekmore says. “All of the potential retailers for Coleman MarketPlace do not have a market presence and have been waiting for a developer to come in and put enough synergy together for them to open a location in Danville.”

North American Properties hopes to draw customers from up to 25 miles away from Coleman MarketPlace. “The average household income within that 25-mile radius is $45,489 and almost 20 percent of the households in the trade area are married couples with children,” Creekmore says.

“Coleman MarketPlace will be successful due to the quality of North American Properties’ developments which feature a blend of retailers and restaurants,” Creekmore says. “This project will serve a retail market that has been previously underserved, offering the goods and services from national, regional and local merchants.”

Oakleaf Town Center

The 830,000-square-foot Oakleaf Town Center will serve the residential community of Oakleaf Plantation in Jacksonville, Florida, beginning in the spring of 2007.

Oakleaf Town Center’s target market area currently includes about 120,000 people and is expected to be approximately 170,000 people in 5 years. The open-air shopping center will primarily serve Oakleaf Plantation, a residential development located on 6,400 acres just southwest of Jacksonville. This residential development stretches across both Clay and Duval counties. The Hutson Companies built the property. Oakleaf Plantation’s retail districts are planned in two separate village centers, which Oakleaf Town Center will be located.

“Oakleaf Town Center is an 830,000-square-foot shopping center that will have 8 to 10 outparcels,” says Amber Overby, director of public relations and community affairs for The Sembler Company. “It broke ground this past spring and is expected to open in spring 2007.” The Sembler Company and Granite Properties are in negotiations with lifestyle tenants, regional tenants and community and neighborhood service tenants.

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