The Mercato A Case for Density

[ By Angelo Carusi ]

Overlooking the artfully designed village green, the Residences at Mercato have a view to the street activity below.

Typically, development patterns in South Florida consisted of single-use development on the available undeveloped land in areas of population growth. As time has gone on, and as land costs have risen, many of the counties in South Florida have seen initial development replaced by denser development. Some counties have even seen third and fourth generations of development on the same piece of property. On the east coast, Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are living examples of this growth pattern, with a decade of difference between them. Now, Lee and Collier counties are beginning to exhibit similar growth patterns on Florida's west coast. As densities increase, the opportunity for mixed-use development has become greater.

Sited on 33 acres in North Naples, the Mercato is a vertical mixed-use, retail-intensive development containing approximately 349,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space; 193,000 square of residential space; and 145,000 square feet of commercial office space. The site also has 1,300 spaces of structured parking, an additional eight acres devoted to wetland preservation and another 12 acres for future coach homes.

Maximizing Usage and Investment

Curving building lines capture the outdoor dining space in front of the theater and restaurants.

Along the way, many challenges had to be overcome, not the least of which was to maximize the investment on the site by varying the mix of uses. At various points in the master planning process, a department store was entertained as an anchor, a hotel was conceived over the air rights of retail, parking decks were relocated, the hotel space was swapped for additional office space, and entertainment retail uses were planned for addition at a later date. Surprises like the unexpected run-up in construction costs and the economic recession challenged the skills of the development team. But the biggest challenge for The Lutgert Companies was leasing the project, as it came on line during one of the worst economic periods in recent American history. Construction was halfway completed when the effects of the recession really started to be felt. The Mercato was also coming out of the ground just as a major new mall was completed in Fort Myers to the north and a luxury center to the south reopened after a renovation and expansion.

Open courtyard space is incorporated into this two-story, 40,249-square-foot office building.

The market for The Mercato was clearly defined between the two retail centers, although the economic problems facing the market squeezed the available tenants to a smaller list. The luxury center shifted its focus entirely away from the upper-middle retail niche to pure luxury while the new mall in south Fort Myers was situated in a much less developed and mature trade area.

Despite current economic conditions, the developer assembled anchor tenants and created a very solid restaurant base. The fashion category is now being built upon. Many of the tenants at The Mercato are doing extremely well including Whole Foods, McCormick and Schmicks, Capital Grille, Books-a-Million and The Pub. The Mercato should be well positioned with the new Silverspot Theater, which opened this summer, and for those retailers starting to reemerge from the ashes of the recession.

Not all surprises were unpleasant for the developers. Seeing the development ideas rise in three-dimensions after being conceived on paper and in renderings for so long was gratifying. It is sometimes difficult to imagine the size of spaces and how they relate to human proportions when seen on paper. "The scale of the project, massing and architecture are great. It truly met our expectations. The project is comfortable and the pedestrian environment really works," explains McCorkle.

The Interplay of Form and Function

In order to meet the challenges of the ever changing marketplace, a flexible master plan had to be developed. Due to the size and shape of the property, in combination with the locations for access to the site and the surrounding uses, a "main street" organization was used. Cross streets were developed to create blocks for pedestrians and to provide simple vehicular access to parking areas. These individual blocks then could be somewhat flexible in use without compromising the rest of the master plan. Retail and entertainment anchors were located to provide a strong lease plan and specialty retail was filled in between. Residential uses were located adjacent to established housing communities and units were grouped to take advantage of desirable views at street intersections, the street activity below and the residential amenities deck atop the residential parking structure. Office space was located to capitalize on views and physical connections to the main street, the "village green" and parking.

Unifying Scale and Proportion

Mercato comprises 349,000 square feet of retail space, 145,000 square feet of office space and 193,000 square feet of residential condominiums.

Care was taken in addressing how visitors would experience entry into the project and onto the main street. This care included a synthesizing of landscape architecture, environmental graphics and lighting design appealing to sight, sound, touch and smell. Many visitors park in the large parking structure in spaces shaded by bougainvillea-covered trellises to the south of the theaters. Multiple passageways lead to the street. Centered in an open-air area in the middle of the theater building, patrons walk down a curving stair into the caf‚-lined plaza below. An alternative route is to traverse the grand stair adjacent to Bravo Ristorante, with a large Banyan tree as the focus. Pedestrians are drawn to the Village Green where activities such as outdoor wine tastings, yoga for condominium residents and festivities, like the recently announced Naples International Film Festival, will occur.

Despite the difficulties of developing a mixed-use project, everyone on The Mercato team would do it again. "Being a part of a large inter-working team, getting the pieces to fit together and having it all come together so successfully was enjoyable, commented general contractor Bill Heath, of Hoar Construction.