Last Updated: June 18, 2012 01:54pm ET

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Brunelli said the large majority of empty big-box lots 73 % - have been vacant since April 2011.

OLD BRIDGE, nj-Bankruptcies and closures of big-box stores sapped the impact of retail expansion that occurred over the past year, says R.J. Brunelli in its annual report on vacancies in northern New Jersey's six major retail corridors.

In fact, the retail vacancy rate edged up again, to 8.2% from 8.1% a year ago, and 8% in 2010, reported the Old Bridge-based firm. In 2008, the pre-recession vacancy rate was 3.6%.

The companys survey, conducted in April,found 2.33million square feet of vacancies within the 28.3 million square feet of leasable area along the corridors. "I thought last year that we would have lower vacancy rates at this point, because the retail real estate market bottomed out last year at this time," saidRichard J. Brunelli, president. "There was a lot more activity this year than last year with retailers seeking new locations. But I didn't anticipate more bankruptcies and more closures. They offset the substantial amount of expansion that occurred."

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Retail Vacancy Rises Above 8% As More Big Box Space Goes Dark in Northern NJ

A developers planned construction of a 600-space parking garage in downtown Jacksonville has run into opposition because the original concept featured no ground-floor retail space.

Parador Partners of Atlanta wants to start construction this year of the parking garage, which would be next to the SunTrust Tower and across the street from The Jacksonville Landing.

But the Downtown Development Review Board, responsible for enforcing compliance with downtowns zoning requirement, balked at the garages design because it had no ground-floor space for shops or restaurants.

A downtown overlay approved in 2003 requires parking garages built in the core to have such space. The regulation is aimed at preventing parking garages from being dead zones with no sidewalk-level activities for people walking through downtown.

Parador Partners is weighing its options, said John Norris, a project director for the Haskell Co., which is the architect representing Parador.

He said Parador has not decided whether it will submit a revised concept that has first-floor retail space.

Ashish Bahl, a Parador principal, did not return calls for comment.

The city last year agreed to earmark $3.5 million to help Parador finance construction of the garage in exchange for the garage setting aside 200 weekday spaces and 375 weekend slots for public use.

The Downtown Development Review Board deferred voting June 7 on a conceptual plan for the parking garage. Board members then met last Thursday with Haskell representatives.

Board member Timothy Miller said the presentation by Haskell appeared to satisfy concerns by showing ground-floor retail. He said expects that will be in the revised plan submitted to the city, and he is not in favor of waiving the requirement.

Excerpt from:
Proposed downtown Jacksonville parking garage in trouble

A developers planned construction of a 600-space parking garage in downtown Jacksonville has run into opposition because the original concept had no ground-floor retail space.

Parador Partners of Atlanta wants to start construction this year on the parking garage, which would be next to the SunTrust Tower and across the street from The Jacksonville Landing.

But the Downtown Development Review Board, responsible for enforcing compliance with downtowns zoning requirement, balked at the garages design because it had no ground-floor space for shops or restaurants.

A downtown overlay approved in 2003 requires parking garages built in the core to have such space. The regulation is aimed at preventing parking garages from being dead zones with no sidewalk-level activities for people walking through downtown.

Parador Partners is weighing its options, said John Norris, a project director for the Haskell Co., which is the architect representing Parador.

He said Parador has not decided whether it will submit a revised concept that has first-floor retail space.

Ashish Bahl, a Parador principal, did not return calls for comment.

The city last year agreed to earmark $3.5 million to help Parador finance construction of the garage in exchange for the garage setting aside 200 weekday spaces and 375 weekend slots for public use.

The Downtown Development Review Board deferred voting June 7 on a conceptual plan for the parking garage. Board members then met last Thursday with Haskell representatives.

Board member Timothy Miller said the presentation by Haskell appeared to satisfy concerns by showing ground-floor retail.

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Downtown parking garage hits snag over lack of retail space

Retail follows rooftops, and theres no better example than Colorado Springs fast-growing north side and northern El Paso County.

Five retail centers totaling nearly 5 million square feet are open, under construction or planned within about eight miles of each other between Colorado Springs and Monument, along or near the Interstate 25 corridor.

They range from the 30-year-old Chapel Hills Mall to Copper Ridge at Northgate, a newcomer whose developer announced in February that Bass Pro Shops would be the projects first anchor.

The attraction for developers and retailers to the north side: Annual household incomes in far north ZIP code areas ranged from an average of about $67,000 to nearly $113,000 in 2011 making them among the highest in the Pikes Peak region, according to Springs-based Norwood Development Groups marketing brochure for its InterQuest Marketplace shopping center.

Thousands of those upper-end households, meanwhile, sprang up over the past 25 years on the Springs north and northeast sides, the Tri-Lakes communities of Monument, Palmer Lake and Woodmoor, and unincorporated El Paso County areas north of town. More housing is on the way.

But as retail centers battle for tenants and shoppers, and even as the north side has grown dramatically, some real estate experts wonder if that one area of the Pikes Peak region can absorb the surge of big boxes, smaller stores and restaurants.

Is there enough demographics, enough population, enough income in order to support it? Thats the trick, said John Egan, a broker with NAI Highland Commercial Group. I worry we dont have enough density to support all of those developments up along that corridor at full capacity.

Home construction has picked up locally this year, yet the pace of building remains far behind levels of seven to eight years ago.

To get every one of them (retail centers) developed as envisioned will absolutely take more rooftops, said Patrick Kerscher, a broker with Landmark Commercial Group. Will there be portions of each one that get done? Probably. But I dont know that youll have 100 percent occupancy and 100 percent completion on all those development plans for quite some time.

How long? At least a decade, Kerscher said.

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North side retail boom: Can the area handle it all?

Bellevue Square is expanding up, not out.

The regional mall's owner has filed preliminary paperwork with Bellevue city planners to add 119,000 square feet of retail space and 131,500 square feet of parking with 375 stalls.

The new construction would be on top of part of the existing two- to three-story shopping center and the four-story parking garage to the west, spanning the mall's West Drive.

The expansion would increase Bellevue Square's retail space by about 10 percent. It now has about 1.3 million square feet.

A spokeswoman for Kemper Development, the mall's owner, declined to discuss the expansion, or whether a tenant or tenants has been signed for it.

But Seattle retail consultants Richard Outcalt and Patricia Johnson speculated the space could be intended for a Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom Rack.

"It has to be one major destination retailer," Outcalt said.

In malls, "You can't get people to go up. People move horizontally," he said. Shoppers need a powerful incentive to climb to another level, he added, and a nationally known retailer would provide that.

A Saks or Bloomingdale's would be either chain's first store in the Seattle area, and Bellevue Square owner Kemper Freeman has said he'd like to land one of the upscale retailers.

The 119,000 square feet of proposed retail might not be enough for Bloomingdale's or Saks, Johnson said, but more could be provided by also leasing them the space directly below and creating a two-level store.

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Bellevue Square plans to expand

Call it Extreme Makeover: Historic Edition.

The Plaza de Armas building, built in 1865, is due for an $8.4 million renovation that includes interior and exterior upgrades, new audio/visual studios for the city, and gallery and retail/restaurant space.

The building which is actually four interconnected structures is located just west of City Hall next to the Spanish Governor's Palace.

What we really want to do is put them back into use with some city functions, with some retail space, and also some art gallery and cultural activity space, said Mike Frisbie, director of the capital improvements department.

Fort Worth-based Byrne Construction Services was awarded the design-build contract at the City Council meeting Thursday.

The renovation is scheduled to begin in August and wrap in November 2013.

In all, the building contains 41,000 square feet of useable space.

The scope of the project includes major roof work, new heating and air-conditioning systems, and new electrical/mechanical/plumbing systems.

Fruit Fusion, a smoothie shop on the North Side, is in discussions with the city to move into the planned restaurant space facing Dolorosa Street.

The northern end of the building, flush with the Spanish Governor's Palace, would contain community space that could be used as an art gallery.

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Plaza de Armas building to undergo major makeover

Two local retailers have secured space at one of the new construction projects at the Pearl Brewery that is set to open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Custom guayabera maker Dos Carolinas and Lee Lee Loves Shoes, a boutique women's shoe store, are set to open at the Pearl's Lab Building as soon as the project is complete, ownership at both businesses confirmed.

Officials at the Pearl did not return a request for comment.

It will be Dos Carolinas' first retail location in San Antonio, said Caroline Matthews, the owner. The business currently has its manufacturing plant with a showroom at 127 W. Carolina St. Matthews said she will keep that location for manufacturing but move the retail operation to the Pearl. The store will occupy about 840 square feet there, according to the city's Development Services website.

Matthews opened her first retail location in Houston last month.

Her decision to open a retail spot in San Antonio had to do with the company's growth, which is about 20 percent year over year. And when the Pearl approached her about space at the campus she thought it would be a good move, Matthews said.

It's got so large that we can't handle the retail within facility anymore. It's an intrusion, she said. We're excited about the space.

Lee Lee Loves Shoes has plans to close its Alamo Heights location at 5932 Broadway to open at the Pearl, co-owner Sherry Leeper said. The business will move into a 1,030-square-foot space there, according to the Development Services website.

The company's move to the campus will broaden its customer base and fits with the Pearl's strategic push to attract local businesses, Leeper said.

The San Antonio Area Foundation also has plans to move into 18,000 square feet of space at the Lab Building, according to Express-News archives.

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Pearl to get new retail tenants

Plans for a reconstructed Willets Point were announced today.

More than 12,000 construction jobs and 7,000 permanent jobs will come from the proposed Willets Point renovation, which includes retail space, a hotel and an expansion of the U.S. National Tennis Center.

The reconstruction, to be partially funded by $3 billion in private investment, is expected to bring $4.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years.

The specifics of the long-awaited project were announced this morning at Mayor Michael Bloombergs meeting with the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

The city felt the plans for phase one would best be done by the Queens Development Group, a joint venture of Sterling Equities, Inc. owned by Mets Owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and Related Companies.

For generations, Willets Point was neglected, no investments were made in the roads or in the sewers or in environmental remediation and it remains one of the citys most polluted sites, Bloomberg said. Each year, four million people visit the area. These are four million potential shoppers, local business and restaurants, creating thousands of new jobs and laying the groundwork for thousands of housing units.

The plan includes the activation of the 126th Street corridor, building a 200-room hotel with 30,000-square-feet of retail space and restaurants. There will be an additional open recreation area, it was announced, that will be open during the MLB offseason and during certain Mets road trips.

A new component, Willets West, is designated from a portion of the Citi Field parking lot to become one-million square feet of space for retail, entertainment and dining.

An expansion to the U.S. National Tennis Center is expected to bring about 10,000 people to the U.S. Open annually, the mayor said.

New off-ramps from the Van Wyck Expressway will be added after Phase 1 of the project is completed in the next 10 to 15 years to provide better access to the area. Approval for the off-ramps went through in March.

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Plans for Willets Point reconstruction revealed

OSWEGO, NY A proposal for a $150 million exhibition center may be officially presented to the Oswego Common Council as early as next week.

Mayor Tom Gillen said a former Port City resident contacted him recently about constructing a facility that would actually be floating in Oswego Harbor when completed.

The mayor said he received a letter of intent from Joe Pilotta of Digital Financial Group, Columbus, Ohio.

He described the facility as a floating theater and concert hall.

Its going to be a 65,000-square-foot exhibition/concert hall/trade center, the mayor said.

Another 40,000 square feet of office and lab space will be earmarked to accommodate 25 companies, he added..

Theres nothing like this anywhere on the Great Lakes, he said. It will be very 21st Century with an aquarium and aquatic garden, 20 luxury one- and two-bedroom apartments, a multi-media center and more.

Funding for the project would be from international sources, he explained.

It would be done through private equity bonds, the said, noting that potential current backers include Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy, USA/Germany and Citic Guoan Group, Beijing, China.

They want to construct the facility on the water near the International Marina, the mayor said.

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$150 million Construction Project Being Considered For Oswego

A developer wants to build a 7,000-square foot complex and two adjoining parking lots on what is now mostly wooded land on Bloomfield Avenue and Westview Road in Verona. The township's Board of Adjustment will review the developer's plan, which requires six variances, at its public meeting Thursday, June 14.

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING BY JOSEPH M. DONTATO

Construction plans for an L-shaped parcel of land in Verona, bounded by Bloomfield Avenue and Westview Road, are depicted in this drawing put forth by a Sparta-based developer.

Sparta-based company DMH2 LLC has planned a three-story structure on the site, which is located across the street from Everett Field. The plan consists of a retail office or salon on the ground floor and seven residential units each on the second and third stories. Every unit would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and the third-floor units would also contain loft space, according to site plans and architectural renderings submitted to Verona's Building Department.

Sixty-three parking spaces would be split up between the two parking lots, one at the back of the property abutting the dead end of Montclair Avenue and another at the front nearest Bloomfield Avenue. The lots would be entered and exited via the one-way side street on Westfield Road and the bustling thoroughfare of Bloomfield Avenue.

The Victorian farmhouse at 200 Bloomfield Ave. and about 80 trees in the area would have to be uprooted for the proposed project, which spans 1.5 acres.

The farmhouse, known as "The Stonacker House," dates back to the mid 1890s and has retained a great deal of historic integrity including a 'spectacular' Victorian staircase, wide pine floors and period chestnut woodwork that appears 'brand new,' according to Verona Historical Society President Robert Williams.

'It could have been a historic site but it hasn't been landmarked, so as far as I know, there really isn't anything that could be done to protect it,' Williams said. 'It'd be nice if the owner and developer tried to recognize its historic significance rather than demolish it. It's a piece of the community's heritage.'

Both the farmhouse and wooded parcel of land are owned by Ella Theting, according to the developer's application to the township. The phone number listed for Theting on the application and in the White Pages is not in service.

Theting no longer resides in the old farmhouse, according to Westview Road resident Sarah O'Farell. The elderly woman moved into a nursing home, put her home up for sale a few times, and was unable to sell it, O'Farell said.

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Verona land eyed for retail and housing construction