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

OLD BRIDGE, N.J., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With new big-box store closures negating the benefits of absorptions, the vacancy rate in retail properties along northern New Jersey's six major shopping corridors edged up to 8.2% in April from 8.1% a year ago and 8.0% in 2010, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC.The Route 10 and 46/3 corridors were the only highways to show improvement during the past 12 months.

The Old Bridge-based retail brokerage firm's 22nd annual study of the six-county northern New Jersey market uncovered 2.33 million square feet of vacancies in the 28.34 million square feet of space examined along the six corridors, with availabilities seen in 159 of the 818 properties evaluated. This compared with 2.33 million square feet of vacancies in 28.78 million square feet of space in the 2011 study, in which openings were seen in 173 of the 817 properties reviewed.

Traditionally one of the tightest retail real estate markets in the nation, the northern region has seen its vacancy factor increase for five consecutive years as big box closures began to take a toll. The region's vacancy rate escalated from just 2.9% in 2007 to 3.6% in 2008 before jumping to 6.6% in 2009 and 8%-plus in the last three years. Over the last 10 years, the region's rate was as low as 2.0% in 2003.

R.J. Brunelli's 2012 study reviewed shopping centers and freestanding buildings exceeding 2,000 square feet along State Highways 4, 10, 17, 22, 23 and 46/3, and certain intersecting arteries in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties. Freestanding restaurants, auto service facilities and auto dealerships are also included, while enclosed regional malls and centers under construction or redevelopment are excluded.

Big-box spaces exceeding 20,000 square feet were once again a major driver of the region's vacancies, representing 1.09 million square feet, or 46.8% of the empty space along the six corridors, up from a 45.7% share in 2011. Notably, approximately 798,500 square feet, or 73%, of this year's empty big box space came from stores that remained vacant since the firm's 2011 survey and, in a number of cases, from 2010 and before. This represented an increase from the 62% ratio of held-over big-box inventory in 2011, but comfortably below the 84% ratio seen in the firm's 2010 survey.

"The Chapter 11 filing of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., which has since emerged from bankruptcy protection, and the demise of Borders continued to have the biggest impact on the northern New Jersey market," said Richard J. Brunelli, president of the firm. "Of A&P's six Pathmark stores that went dark along the corridors in 2011 or 2010, only two--a 60,000-square-foot location on Route 46 that's been leased to Fairway and a 42,000-square-foot location on Route 10 that is reportedly leased to LA Fitnesshave been absorbed so far. Consequently, over 226,000 square feet of empty Pathmark space lingers on the corridors."

Borders, meanwhile, shuttered a trio of 25,000-square-foot locations on Routes 17, 22 and 23 in the past year, adding to the 28,000-square-foot store closed on Route 10 in the firm's 2011 survey. With that, approximately 103,000 square feet of former Borders locations remains on the market. Moreover, the bankruptcies of Sixth Ave. Electronics, Syms and Einstein Moomjy added four stores aggregating 120,000 square feet along Routes 10, 17 and 22 to the inventory this past year. An additional 30,000-square-foot Sixth Ave. location on Route 46 in Wayne, however, was snapped up by Planet Fitness.

"On a positive note, besides the aforementioned absorptions of the Pathmark and Sixth Ave. stores on Route 46 and Pathmark on Route 10, we continued to see some of the older big box vacancies take on new life," Mr. Brunelli continued. These included Conway Stores' lease for the former Linens 'n Things on Route 46 in Totowa; Dick's Sporting Goods lease for the former Circuit City on Route 22 in Union; Harbor Freight's lease for the former Office Max on Route 22 in Union; Sears Outlet & Appliance's lease of the former Office Depot on Route 22 in Watchung; and Lord & Taylor Home's lease of the former Loehmann's on Route 17 in Paramus.

Results for the individual northern New Jersey roadways are as follows:

Route 17. The vacancy rate along the 15-mile corridor extending from Paramus to Mahwah increased to 8.2% this year from 7.4% in 2011, but is still below the 10-year high of 8.7% reached in 2010. Over the last 10 years, the roadway's vacancy factor has been as low as 1.9% in 2003.

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Retail Vacancy Rate In Northern NJ Rises To 8.2% As More 'Big Box' Spaces Go Empty, R.J. Brunelli Survey Reports

Prince Georges County and National Childrens Museum officials celebrated Tuesday the commencement of construction of the museums transitional space at National Harbor, along with renewed hopes that the originally planned 150,000-square-foot facility will eventually move forward.

The transitional space a facility being constructed until a larger museum can be built was decided upon because museum officials said they were not able to secure enough funding for the larger $182 million facility due to the tough economy, but they said donations have ramped up recently and revenues from the transitional space will push them further toward their ultimate goal.

Museum CEO Kathy Dwyer Southern said the transitional facility will consist of a 15,000-square-foot indoor section, set to open this winter, along with a 60,000-square-foot outdoor play area across the street, set to open in May. The indoor exhibits will focus on tactile learning and coordination for children three years old and younger, along with Our World, an exhibit focusing on learning about various global cultures; the outdoor experience will teach children about health and fitness, Southern said.

Southern said that despite the fundraising setbacks of recent years, she was determined to open the museum in some form until the total for the new building could be raised.

We already serve 300,000 people annually, at the [retail space] launch zone in National Harbor, and other programs in the county, Southern said of the space currently being used to house the museum. The demand is there, so we need an interim step, and this is a great way to do it.

The outdoor experience will be on the site of the future 150,000-square-foot facility, officials said, and when it is eventually built, they will vacate the indoor transitional space.

Willard Whitson, the museums vice president for exhibits and programs, said since announcing the interim space, fundraising has picked up, although he said he could not go into details about the amount.

Were doing quite well, Whitson said. Were still in the quiet phase, meaning that until certain milestones are met, we cant talk about it. But were on that threshold now.

But Prince Georges County Councilman Obie Patterson (D-Dist. 8) of Fort Washington, whose district includes National Harbor, said that while hes anxious to see the project move forward, he wants to see a revised plan from the museum before committing any more county funds to the project. Prince Georges County has already provided the museum with $2 million in funding, and Southern said the state of Maryland is providing $3 million in 2017.

We have to make sure everything is in order before we continue to grant them resources and support other projects, Patterson said. At this point, I understand that given the reduction in scope of the program, National Childrens Museum officials will be coming back with a revised plan, so well take a look at that and see how to move forward.

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Ten years ago, developer Peter Bell began work on a massive mixed-use development in Waukesha County. The plans included a significant retail development intended to make the project a regional destination.

Bell's grand vision was to develop the sprawling Pabst Farms site with one master plan, rather than piecemeal by parcel.

However, since the onset of the Great Recession five years ago, the Pabst Farms development has ground to a halt. Huge portions of the site remain vacant. Perhaps most noteworthy, the retail development planned for Pabst Farms has fallen far short of expectations.

A strip mall anchored by a Pick 'n Save store was completed prior to the recession. But the regional shopping center planned at Pabst Farms never materialized. Plans for the 1 million-square-foot regional shopping center at Pabst Farms have been altered to add a heavy emphasis on big-box stores, but even that redesigned plan has failed to move forward.

Through a spokesman, Pabst Farms executives declined to comment for this story.

"I don't know that we really have much to say," said Pabst Farms spokesman Thad Nation. "We're kind of in status quo."

With the Pabst Farms project stuck in neutral 10 years after it began, another major development is planned in Waukesha County in hopes of creating a regional shopping destination. But The Corners, planned by The Marcus Corp., is a very different project at a very different site than Pabst Farms.

The Corners is a $150 million retail and residential development planned for the former West Point Cinema site and the former Menard's store site at the intersection of I-94, Barker Road and Bluemound Road in the Town of Brookfield. The project will consist of a 140,000-square-foot Von Maur deparment store, another 200,000 square feet of retail space, 30,000 square feet of restaurant space and 120 apartment units. Office space that was originally planned for the project will likely be scrapped, said Katie Falvey, director of real estate for Marcus Corp. The Corners will be built in a town center format with a central park, similar to the outdoor portion of Bayshore Town Center in Glendale. Most of the 2,000 parking spaces will be located underneath the town center shopping area.

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Around The Corners

Manufacturing has been the star of the recovery, powering Michigan out of the Great Recession. But the outlook remains dim for another chief pillar of the nation's economy: construction.

The industry that builds everything from homes and offices to roads, bridges and power plants is a major economic weak spot.

Just last month, the nation lost 28,000 construction jobs. In Michigan, industry employment shrank by 3,000 jobs from April 2011 to April 2012.

The glut of homes, offices and retail space combined with fewer government-financed projects means things are not likely to significantly improve anytime soon.

"We keep waiting for an increase in volume, but unfortunately we don't see it for the next 18 months to two years," said Ken Lawless, executive vice president of Clark Construction, a Lansing general contractor, and chairman of the Associated General Contractors of Michigan.

Barton Malow, one of the state's biggest construction companies, doesn't expect a full industry recovery until 2015, said Alex Ivanikiw, the firm's senior vice president.

The grim outlook persists even as many subcontractors and other construction-related companies have quietly shut down their businesses because of too little work in recent years, with more failures expected. Even more worrisome for construction's long-term future, thousands of skilled workers have left the troubled industry.

Construction is a major economic driver, normally accounting for 4% to 5% of the nation's economic output, according to Kenneth Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America. Today, this percentage has dropped to 3%, a historic low.

In Michigan, some companies that have stuck it out through the tough times are seeing a slight increase in activity this year, but bids are so low that profit margins have never been tighter. And hundreds of carpenters, laborers, sheet metal workers and others are desperate for work.

"I've never felt so depressed," said Vincent DeMassa of Redford, a 36-year-old carpenter who used to work on commercial construction projects like hospitals but can now find only occasional repair jobs for homeowners.

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Construction Sheds Jobs Amid Manufacturing Recovery