A hotel, restaurant, skate park and glass-blowing studio all are part of a second life for Central Florida's retail destinations as malls remake themselves to attract shoppers.

The next 12 months will see the continued reinvention of Artegon Marketplace with new retailers. Orlando Fashion Square mall will add a hotel and restaurant, aiming to make the central Orange County destination a big draw once again.

The malls, in particular, are facing intense pressure in the retail world, experts say.

"The market is splitting into luxury goods at the high end to the high-value offerings at the lower end," said Steve Kirn, executive director of the University of Florida's David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research. "People in the middle are struggling, and malls are right in the middle of that."

Orlando Fashion Square is working to reestablish itself as the preferred shopping destination for the central part of the metropolitan area, said mall manager Brian Smalls.

The mall added a bowling alley and entertainment center in 2014 called Strikeouts. The business also includes a caf and arcade, which is part of the mall's plan to bring in customers with entertainment destinations to complement the retail stores.

This year, the mall plans to start major construction on a new Element by Westin hotel, to be built on the south side between Macy's and Panera Bread.

"It's really about making this the place to go for people that live immediately around the mall," he said. "We have great neighborhoods like College Park and Baldwin Park, and we have to show them that this is their mall."

A new T.G.I. Friday's restaurant is part of that plan and a new Noodles and Co. is also under construction on Fashion Square property on Colonial Drive.

Anchor department store Dillard's changed its strategy at the mall with a clearance center that sells discounted merchandise. High end retailers are trying to diversify their base of customers, pushing stores such as Dillards to follow the lead of Saks 5th Avenue and Nordstrom rack in opening centers that feature lower prices, Kirn said.

Read the original:
Orlando's aging malls aim for retail comeback

Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch Exterior of Glenn's Sporting Goods at its new location in the Mack and Dave's building on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in downtown Huntington.

Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch Jim Brumfield, President of Glenn's Sporting Goods, at the store's new location in the Mack and Dave's building on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in downtown Huntington.

Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch Glenn's Sporting Goods at its new location in the Mack and Dave's building on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in downtown Huntington.

Jan. 18, 2015 @ 11:20 PM

HUNTINGTON - Two of Huntington's largest and oldest downtown retail businesses are now operating under the same roof.

Glenn's Sporting Goods has moved one block from the corner of 4th Avenue and 11th Street to the east side of the Mack and Dave's building, on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 11th Street.

The move has allowed Glenn's to expand its retail showroom, consolidate its warehousing and other operations into one location, and grow all of its operations, which also includes providing athletic equipment, uniforms and logo apparel for teams, businesses and other organizations, as well as supplying clothing, shoes and other gear for 70 percent of the nation's federal prisons.

The move was made possible by Mack and Dave's compressing some of its operations into a smaller space and allowing Glenn's the convenience of being all in one spot and staying within the city limits, Glenn's President Jim Brumfield said. The retail portion of the stores are connected with an open doorway between the two businesses.

Glenn's has been operating for 45 years and Mack and Dave's for 65 years, making 110 years of retail experience in one building, Brumfield said.

"I think it's a great move, and the customers will benefit from having the two together, with the different things they sell," said Mack and Dave's owner David Cohen. "Both stores have credit accounts and layaways. We're looking forward to the future of both stores."

Read more:
Glenn's Sporting Goods relocates

LEED stands for green building leadership. LEED is transforming the way we think about how buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained and operated across the globe.

LEED certified buildings save money and resources and have a positive impact on the health of occupants, while promoting renewable, clean energy.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Prerequisites and credits differ for each rating system, and teams choose the best fit for their project.

Each rating system groups requirements that address the unique needs of building and project types on their path towards LEED certification. Once a project team chooses a rating system, theyll use the appropriate credits to guide design and operational decisions.

There are five rating systems that address multiple project types:

Within each of the credit categories, there are specific prerequisites projects must satisfy and a variety of credits projects can pursue to earn points. The number of points the project earns determines its level of LEED certification.

requirements, while not a credit category, promote reaching across disciplines to incorporate diverse team members during the pre-design period.

credits reward projects within relatively dense areas, near diverse uses, with access to a variety of transportation options, or on sites with development constraints.

credits encourage using sustainable building materials and reducing waste. Indoor environmental quality credits promote better indoor air quality and access to daylight and views.

credits promote smarter use of water, inside and out, to reduce potable water consumption.

See more here:
LEED - U.S. Green Building Council

LIBERTY TWP.

The planned opening this fall of the $350 million Liberty Center will see construction on more than 1 million-square-feet of retail and dining, residential and office space completed and leased.

But thats only the projects first phase.

Future phases of construction at the Liberty Twp. site could more than double the floor space thats now under construction, according to executives for the projects developer Steiner + Associates of Columbus.

The site is really planned for future growth, Beau Arnason, executive vice president in charge of asset management for Steiner, said.

Liberty Center is the name of the mixed use mega complex being built in Butler Countys Liberty Twp. Construction first started last year. Three anchor tenants Dillards department store, dinner-and-movie theater CineBistro and Dicks Sporting Goods have been announced along with AC Hotels by Marriott.

Estimates are for Liberty Centers retailers, restaurants and other businesses to create approximately 3,500 new jobs in Butler County by 2018, according to Liberty Twp. Economic Development Director Caroline McKinney.

Additionally, Liberty Twp. Trustees Tom Farrell and David Kern said the centers opening will double the number of businesses operating in this fast-growing northern Cincinnati township from approximately 250 to 500 in one fell swoop.

While the first phase encompasses approximately 65 acres, Steiner owns another 35 acres of land for future expansion at the site, located at the crossroads of Liberty Way, Ohio 129 and Interstate 75 in eastern Butler County. In total, Steiner has local government planning approval to build over 2.5 million-square-feet, Justin Leyda, senior development executive for Steiner, said.

Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Steiner + Associates, has previously told Journal-News that the first phase of Liberty Center is already being built bigger than the companys prior developments were when they opened, including The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek and Easton Town Center in the Columbus area. Hes referred to Liberty Center as Steiners town center version 2.0.

Go here to see the original:
Mega-project Liberty Center already designed for future growth

Rendering of the proposed Station Park Green mixed-use residential development near the Hayward Park Caltrain Station in San Mateo.

The long-proposed residential and retail community known as Station Park Green is closer to construction as the San Mateo Planning Commission approved the proposal to redevelop the 12-acre site at a prime intersection near the Hayward Park Caltrain Station.

EBL&S Developments plans to construct a 1-acre park and up to 599 apartments, 30,000 square feet of retail space and 15,000 square feet of office space at the corner of Delaware Street and Concar Drive were approved by the Planning Commission Tuesday night and will now be up for City Councils vote Feb. 2.

The project, which was approved in 2011 but put on hold due to financing, was amended and required EBL&S, city staff and planning officials to iron out details over the last year. The proposal outlines four main buildings with residences wrapping around an enclosed, above-ground parking structure. The former proposal called for eight, smaller buildings and increased office and retail space.

I think working together with the Planning Commission and the staff, we came up with a better project and I think its going to be a project I can be proud of. Its sort of a legacy project for me, that will be here long after I am, said Alan Talansky, EBL&S senior vice president of development and a San Mateo resident. I think what were going to be able to do is set a standard for how these villages should be at [Caltrain stations] and I think theyre important for the future transit and growth of the area.

Should the council approve the proposal, Talansky said he anticipates starting demolition within three months at the former sites of Kmart and Michaels Arts and Crafts. Construction is likely to take about two years, he added. The Shell gas station has already been demolished.

An evolving juncture

The Hayward Park Caltrain station has served as the catalyst for several redevelopment proposals including the Hines complex, which will transform 3.3 acres into 292,400 square feet of offices directly across from Station Park Green, and Caltrain plans to construct a mixed-use residential complex on 2.7 acres of its surface parking lot.

Its a prime location because it had underutilized space. You had space that was old retail, that was really not that viable for the area, Talansky said. The whole impetus comes from the corridor plan that San Mateo did several years ago, so this was asked for by the city and the citizens a long time ago.

Planning Commission Chair Rick Bonilla said the city has long sought mixed-use projects like Station Park Green since approving the Rail Corridor Plan, which promotes transit-oriented developments, in 2005.

Visit link:
Station Park Green plan heads to council: Planning Commission approves 599-unit residential development

The retail space in real estate market of Ahmedabad witnessed a slow year due to highest increase in mall vacancy among top eight cities in 2014. According to the latest report by Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate consultancy, at the end of 2014, Ahmedabad's mall vacancy grew by 1.8 per cent to stand at 32.1 per cent, due to low preference for poor quality mall space.

The total eight cities including Delhi, Mumbai, NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai, among others saw only 1.7 million square feet (msf) of fresh mall space being infused in the calendar year 2014.

Leading cities of India saw an addition of only 5 new malls of which Pune noted the influx of 2 malls adding upto 500,000 square feet (sq ft) of mall space. Hyderabad (500,000 sq ft), Bengaluru (310,000 sq ft) and Delhi-NCR (250,000 sq ft) witnessed an infusion of 1 mall each. Kolkata saw an addition of 120,000 sq ft to the city mall inventory.

In Ahmedabad, limited availability of quality mall space kept the transaction activity in Ahmedabad low. Increasing vacancy levels in a few poor quality malls on S.G. Highway led to city's overall mall vacancy increasing by 1.8 percentage points over the last one year and was noted at 32.1 per cent.

"There has been a period of low activities in the mall supply across the country as the developers are cautious of taking up retail projects which are high gestation and high investment as retailers still remain concerned on uptake and are therefore cautious with their expansion plans in India. Having said that, any new retail location that has appropriate catchment areas have witnessed good levels of activities," said Sanjay Dutt, Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield.

The total supply that was estimated to enter the market in 2014 was approximately 12 msf of which less than 15 per cent came into existence amounting to indefinite deferment of approximately 25 malls across key cities of India. Maximum number of malls (9) were deferred in Delhi-NCR totalling to 6.7 msf of new mall space, which is 56 per cent of the total mall space deferred. Though Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata witnessed some supply during this year, a large quantum has been deferred. Bengaluru lost out on 7 planned malls while 4 malls were deferred in Pune. Kolkata witnessed the deferment of 1 mall while Chennai and Hyderabad both witnessed the deferment of 2 malls each.

The delays have happened due to a variety of reasons, mostly from approval construction linked delays in Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi-NCR. However, low demand has also led to the deferment of some malls in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai.

However, leasing activities in the existing and new mall spaces remained stable with vacancy levels remaining similar to the previous year recording a very marginal drop in vacancy at 0.2 per cent. The average vacancy level stood at 14.3 per cent.

In Ahmedabad, despite rising vacancies, landlords kept the rentals for these malls steady during the last year.

Since higher preference for main-street format was noted in Ahmedabad, it did not witnessed any mall supply during 2014 and currently has just one under-construction mall.

See the original post:
Ahmedabad records highest rise in mall vacancy in 2014

Correction: A Thursday Tulsa World story incorrectly stated the amount of money the Muscogee (Creek) Nation plans to contribute to a new development at RiverWalk Crossing in Jenks. The nation plans to contribute $11 million to the $22 million project. This story has been corrected.

JENKS The Muscogee (Creek) Nation announced a $22 million entertainment complex that will be built at the RiverWalk Crossing in Jenks.

The facility will offer high-tech golf, family-oriented games, restaurants, sports bar, party rooms and corporate space.

Principal Chief George Tiger said the tribe hoped to have the facility finished in 18 months. It will be built in an open space just north of the shopping centers movie theater.

There will be nothing like it within a 250-mile radius of Tulsa, Tiger said.

Tiger said the announcement is just the first of several to be made regarding RiverWalk Crossing, located along the west bank of the Arkansas River in Jenks.

The new development will be a partnership between the tribe and RW Restaurant Group, a new entity that was formed specifically for the venture. Of the $22 million cost, $11 million will be covered by the tribe and the rest covered by RW.

John Vollbrecht, a local investor and representative of RW, said the group was proud to work with the tribe.

Were honored to be partnered with them, and we believe this will be the start of a great revitalization of RiverWalk Crossing, he said.

Sean Kouplen, a local banker who is chairman of One Fire, the business arm of the Creek Nation, said the fate of the movie theater will be determined later.

Originally posted here:
Creeks announce $22 million entertainment complex at Jenks' Riverwalk Crossing

Greensburg grew in 2014, with the number of new construction projects and new businesses rising significantly from 2013.

The city Planning Department presented its annual report to city council Monday, showing a positive year for the city.

Councilman Jonathan Vesely pointed to Seton Hill University's construction of a dance and visual arts center on West Otterman Street and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art's major renovation of its North Main Street building as the city's most significant construction projects in decades.

There were four cranes working on these new buildings for the first time in 30 years, Vesely said.

The Planning and Zoning Department collected a total of $213,070 in building permits, occupancy permits and related fees in 2014, up more than 31 percent from last year's total of $146,012.

According to the report, 24 businesses signed new leases for retail and office space downtown, while three businesses canceled existing leases.

A lot of that is trickle down from Seton Hill, said city Planning Director Barbara Ciampini.

The college's new developments and heightened downtown presence has spurred more businesses to want to set up shop in Greensburg, Ciampini said.

The Stack Hookah Lounge, which opened on West Otterman Street over the summer, is one example of a business that chose a location close to college facilities, Ciampini said.

Downtown Greensburg has changed a lot in the last five years or so, she said.

Read more:
Construction projects, businesses increased in Greensburg in 14

A retail rebound in Lawrence is well underway, according to an annual study that shows the vacancy rate among stores and shops in Lawrence has fallen well below the national average.

A new commercial real estate report by the Lawrence office of Colliers International found that the citys retail vacancy rate was 3.9 percent at the end of 2014, which is below the national average of about 6.5 percent and below the Kansas City area average of about 8.5 percent.

It is very tight, said Marilyn Bittenbender, a senior vice president with Colliers. The good news is a low vacancy rate shows your economy is doing well, but it also makes it more difficult to attract new companies because you have fewer properties to show them.

The 3.9 percent citywide vacancy rate was down from 4.4 percent in 2013 and 5.4 percent in 2012. The closely watched downtown retail vacancy rate is even lower at 2.7 percent. The downtown rate, however, is up slightly from 1.8 percent in 2013, mainly because of the recent relocation of Buffalo Wild Wings to South Iowa Street and the closing of M&M Office Supply, both of which have left large buildings empty. The report estimates there is about 35,000 square feet of vacant retail space in downtown.

East 23rd Street had the highest retail vacancy rate in the city at 11.5 percent. South Iowa Street had the largest amount of vacant square footage at about 80,000 square feet, but that accounted for only about a 3.8 percent vacancy rate.

The low vacancy rates will create for an interesting 2015, Bittenbender predicted. There has been interest in building a new retail development southeast of the Iowa Street and South Lawrence Trafficway interchange, but it has not yet won city approval. There also have been efforts to lure retailers to an undeveloped area around the Rock Chalk Park sports complex in northwest Lawrence.

I would think well see some additional construction or at least see some additional projects approved in 2015, Bittenbender said of the retail front.

The report also looked at office and industrial vacancy rates in the city.

The office vacancy rate ended the year at 9.6 percent, up from about 9.4 percent a year ago. It remains below the Kansas City and national averages, which are between 11 percent and 12 percent.

The industrial vacancy rate fell to 6.1 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 2014. That puts Lawrence on par with the average vacancy rate in Kansas City and slightly below the national rate of about 8 percent.

Link:
Lawrence tops Kansas City, nation in key retail property rate

Brit Store owner Andy Bradshaw moved the retail outlet that featured British goods to Surrey's Newton neighbourhood last year. Building owner David Sarraf has leased the space to Bosa Properties to use it as a sales centre for its 1000 Quayside Drive development.

image credit: Mario Bartel/NewsLeader file photo

A Downtown New Westminster storefront known for peddling steak and kidney pie, British biscuits and haggis will now be used to sell Quayside condos.

The space at 659 Columbia St., which used to house the popular British Store before it moved to Surreys Newton neighbourhood, has been leased to Bosa Properties, said building owner David Sarraf. It will serve as Bosas presentation centre for the 1000 Quayside Drive project.

Bosa plans to build towers of 28 and 23 storeys with 519 units in the parking lot adjacent to the Inn at the Quay.

Sarraf said the two-year lease will allow the market to develop.

He believes once tenants move into the new Anvil Centre office building and other construction projects are completed there will be more demand for retail Downtown. But until then he has someone occupying the storefront.

It worked out for me perfectly, said Sarraf. Bosa are very good people to work with.

Sarraf said hell get some of the benefit of enhancements Bosa is doing to the ex-Brit Store space. The lease doesnt include the second floor office space. Sarraf plans to eventually restore that part of the building, including redoing the facade to expose some historically significant windows.

David Sarraf owns many historical properties along Columbia Street that he renovates. Mario Bartel/NewsLeader file

More here:
Store space goes from Brit to Bosa