Mixed-Use Development Newsbriefs

National News and Trends
Live, Work, Play, Texas-Style
This Space Not for Rent: Investors, Stores Buy Into Retail Condos (Often as Part of Mixed-Use Projects)
New Firm to Update Malls (With a Mix of Uses)
Exceptional Mixed-Use Projects CD, Volume 1 Now Available
Mixed-Use Development Conference, November 16-17, 2006, Hollywood, Fla.

Regional News
Plots & Ploys: Filling Holes (With Mixed-Use Development) (CO)
Southwest Waterfront Will Finally Get Over the '60s (DC)
'Downtown Doral' to Mix Housing, Shops, Work (FL)
Panel Says Ease Mixed Use Site Rules (LA)
Meet Me in Revitalized Downtown St. Louis (MO)
City Planners Recommend an 8 Percent Reduction in a Huge Brooklyn Project (NY)
Mixed-Use Project Planned in Chester County, S.C. (SC)
Considering All Aspects (of How a Mixed-Use Project Will Benefit Arlington) (TX)
National Gateway Project Advances With 6 More Office Buildings (VA)
Council to Consider 3 Major Developments (in Wyoming) (WY)

National News and Trends

Live, Work, Play, Texas-Style
Wall Street Journal (10/11/06) P. B1; Herrick, Thaddeus

With more and more U.S. cities moving forward with major stadium projects, several of them are seizing on an opportunity to build mixed-use projects around the new venues that complete each area's revitalization. Victory Park in Dallas is just one of a growing number of mega developments to be paired with major pro sports stadiums and arenas. Ross Perot Jr. is spearheading an effort to build 12 million square feet of residential, retail, hotel and office space around or near the new stadium--one of the largest mixed-use projects in the nation. By 2009, as many as 75 retailers are expected to be up and running along with a Mandarin Oriental Hotel. In Arizona, meanwhile, Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman is in the late stages of opening the initial phase of his $1 billion Westgate City Center complex with the Glendale Arena as its centerpiece. Additionally, the Cordish Co. has teamed with the St. Louis Cardinals to plan the $650 million Ballpark Village mixed-use project adjacent to the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Supporters point to such past success stories as Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center and Denver's Coors Field as paving the way for local revitalization efforts. However, critics point to other similar venues that have done little to spur economic development due partly to patchwork land holdings and planning restrictions that have limited new development.
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This Space Not for Rent: Investors, Stores Buy Into Retail Condos (Often as Part of Mixed-Use Projects)
Investor's Business Daily (10/13/06) P. A8; Gose, Joe

Retail condominiums--store spaces that are owned instead of leased--are an emerging trend in the commercial real-estate industry. They essentially give property investors and retailers the opportunity to buy spots in bigger commercial and mixed-use developments, just as buyers of residential condos own units in a building. Both small-business owners and institutional investors are showing interest in the niche, as Real Capital Analytics reports that $881.6 million of retail condos sold in the first nine months of this year. That is $250 million more than all of last year. Institutional investors are targeting mixed-use projects, in particular, buying up these projects' lower-floor retail space. In other instances, developers are pre-selling commercial space in new mixed-use developments without tenants, thus transferring the leasing risk to the retail condo buyers. Retail condos have been around for years, most notably in land-locked, high-rent markets such as Manhattan. Now, they are spreading to other markets, ranging from San Diego to Philadelphia to even smaller, suburban locales.
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New Firm to Update Malls (With a Mix of Uses)
Los Angeles Times (09/25/06) Vincent, Roger

Manarino Realty has been formed to renovate and develop retail-heavy mixed-use developments on the West Coast. Headed by Robert A. Manarino, the new firm will seek to acquire underused or financially underperforming commercial properties ranging from shopping malls to industrial facilities. The company will then redevelop them into mixed-use properties that include large retail components, along with offices, hotels, residences and eating places. Manarino, a former director of development at West for Cousins Properties Inc., reasons, "Southern California is still growing very rapidly, and now it's starting to grow inward. We're working on repositioning obsolete assets." A typical Manarino Realty project will range in cost from $50 million to $150 million.
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Exceptional Mixed-Use Projects CD, Volume 1 Now Available

Learn from today’s successful mixed-use developers! CD contains 24 case studies in full color, with tips on how to gauge the market, win over community stakeholders, and finance, phase and market your project. Member Price: $49.95
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Mixed-Use Development Conference, November 16-17, 2006, Hollywood, Fla.

To understand mixed-use in today's real estate market, ICSC, NAIOP, BOMA, NMHC and ARDA have joined together to host a landmark Mixed-Use Conference that will be of interest to anyone involved in developing, designing, financing, leasing, managing and marketing a mixed-use project, as well as new and expanding retailers.
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Forest City Enterprises Inc. serves as master developer of the conversion of the former Stapleton Airport site in Denver into a mixed-use development that will include 7.5 square miles of offices, retail stores and residences. As such, the Ohio-based firm is presiding over one of the country's biggest urban-infill projects. Forest City has been seeking other opportunities in the state, and it appears to have found a big one. On Wednesday, the Fitzsimmons Redevelopment Authority is slated to give its approval for Forest City to develop a 3.5-million-square-foot biotechnology park over the next 30 or so years on what was once Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in the Denver suburb of Aurora. The deal will boost the Denver metro area's image as a hotbed for urban redevelopment. In addition to the Stapleton project, the city has almost completed the redevelopment of Lowry Air Force Base into a mixed-use hub.
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Southwest Waterfront Will Finally Get Over the '60s (DC)
Washington Post (10/09/06) P. D1; Hedgpeth, Dana

A team of developers led by homebuilder PN Hoffman recently emerged as the winner in a bid to redevelop 47 acres of waterfront property in Southwest Washington, D.C. The team trumped 16 other bidders with a mixed-use plan that aims to connect the waterfront to the community, thus making it more of a destination. PN Hoffman is partnering with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse on a 2 million-square-foot project that will include approximately 900 for-sale residential condominiums and rental apartments, approximately 230,000 sq. ft. of retail space and another 150,000 sq. ft. of cultural space. An undisclosed amount of office space and 360 hotel rooms are also part of the mix. The firms' development plan would shun tall tower-like buildings and dead-end streets for a more modern layout that encourages foot traffic. On the potential downside, existing businesses--ranging from a Phillips Seafood Restaurant to the Zanzibar on the Waterfront nightclub--are unsure where they will fit in with the new development. Zanzibar owner John H. Christian comments, "We've known they wanted to do something down here for years, it was just a question of when. It's very difficult to plan ahead when you don't know quite what's going to happen."
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'Downtown Doral' to Mix Housing, Shops, Work (FL)
Miami Herald (09/17/06)

Flagler Development Group plans to build a mixed-use development at the former Koger Center on Northwest 53rd Street in Doral, Fla. The 120-acre Downtown Doral will be comprised of 2,840 condominiums and townhomes, 180,000 square feet of retail space, 400,000 sq. ft. of office space, a three-acre park and a new school. Construction will take place over a seven- to 10-year period, with residential units slated for the first phase of development being offered to buyers by year's end. The Cardinal will feature 205 units priced from $300,000 to over $1 million, and another tower will offer 224 units starting in the mid-$200,000s.
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Panel Says Ease Mixed Use Site Rules (LA)
2theAdvocate (10/03/06) Dyer, Scott

In Louisiana, the city-parish Planning Commission is backing a proposed ordinance that would affect future growth in East Baton Rouge Parish by fostering mixed-use development. The general idea with these new projects is to encourage more walking than driving. The ordinance now goes to the Metro Council for final approval. The law would reduce the amount of red tape that has slowed such projects in the past, most notably the Villages of River Ranch project in nearby Lafayette. When that project was constructed, the developer was required to obtain 119 variances from the local development code to allow a mix of property uses, narrower streets and other features that otherwise are not permitted there. Currently, there are about four or five traditional neighborhood developments in the planning stages for Baton Rouge. The new ordinance would make building them significantly easier.
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Meet Me in Revitalized Downtown St. Louis (MO)
New York Times (10/04/06) P. C10; Sharoff, Robert

In downtown St. Louis, the Pyramid Companies is spearheading a revitalization effort with its redevelopment of the St. Louis Centre, a nearly vacant enclosed shopping mall that is being transformed into a mixed-use project complete with retail stores and residential condominiums. Not only is the project the latest step in downtown St. Louis' decade-long revitalization campaign, it also holds the distinction of being the first major development to be erected without the use of state or federal historic tax credits. In stripping the four-story St. Louis Centre down to structural steel, Pyramid will then be able to convert the structure to offer approximately 110,000 square feet of street-level retail stores and an estimated 120 condos. Pyramid President John Steffen adds, "Because we're not using historic tax credits, the condos will have features like balconies and terraces and all-glass window walls. Right now, there really isn't anything like that in downtown St. Louis." The bigger picture entails getting more people to live in the downtown district. To this end, two dozen historic office buildings have been renovated into 1,100 apartments and loft condos in just the past five years locally. Additionally, an estimated 60 new retail businesses--everything from banks to eateries to furniture stores--have opened downtown. To assist in the retail part of the revitalization, city officials established a $500,000 fund for low-interest loans to retailers that meet certain guidelines.
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City Planners Recommend an 8 Percent Reduction in a Huge Brooklyn Project (NY)
New York Times (09/26/06) P. C16; Bagli, Charles V.

New York's City Planning Commission is urging developer Forest City Ratner to reduce the size of its Atlantic Yards mixed-use project in Brooklyn by 8 percent. Specifically, commissioners are calling on the firm to eliminate around 600 apartments from the development, but leave the complex's tallest tower intact. Currently, the Atlantic Yards proposal entails a new arena for the New Jersey Nets pro basketball team, more than 6,000 apartments, 16 towers and a hotel near Downtown Brooklyn. The new recommendations also petition Forest City Ratner to reduce the height of two of the proposed buildings and increase the amount of open space from seven acres to eight. At presstime, it was not certain whether these recommendations would be legally binding even if the development firm accepted them. Forest City Ratner spokesman comments, "City Planning has been enormously helpful throughout the development process. We look forward to reviewing their most recent recommendations and working with them to ensure the overall success of the Atlantic Yards project." Critics of the project, including City Councilwoman Letitia James, say that the city should have gone even further in limited the size of the project. James was particularly dismayed that the planners did not devote more attention to how to mitigate the traffic problems that will surely be brought on by the new arena and the dense housing units that will be added.
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Mixed-Use Project Planned in Chester County, S.C. (SC)
Charlotte Observer (NC) (10/12/06)

Charlotte-based developer Mel Graham Jr. is now planning a mixed-use development in Chester County, S.C. The project would cover roughly 6,000 acres and include a mix of housing, stores and offices. Dubbed Montrose Plantation, the development will resemble the Ballantyne mixed-use project in South Charlotte but will be three times larger. Graham states, "This area is going to become the next mega corridor to handle Charlotte's growth. It's connected to the same corridor as Lake Norman and Mooresville."
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Considering All Aspects (of How a Mixed-Use Project Will Benefit Arlington) (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (10/05/06)

Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks is looking to build a mixed-use projected that will be located next to Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Dubbed Glorypark, the development's first phase is on track for a 2008 grand opening at an estimated cost of $600 million. Glorypark will feature a mix of housing, retail stores and offices. An Economics Research Associates study projects that the first phase alone will generate $10.14 million in annual tax revenues, yet cost about $1.6 million in such extra services as fire and police protection. Arlington officials hope that Glorypark ultimately will be thought of as a regional destination and that many of the bucks spent there will come from people other than residents.
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National Gateway Project Advances With 6 More Office Buildings (VA)
Washington Post (10/09/06) P. D3; Kirkham, Chris; Hedgpeth, Dana

Plans have been finalized for the next stage of development at the old Potomac Yard property in Alexandria and Arlington, Va. The Meridian Group Inc. of Maryland and Texas-based Archon Group LP have decided to erect a half-dozen office buildings as part of the mixed-use National Gateway project there. Together, the six structures will boast approximately 1.6 million square feet of commercial space. Construction is set to start on two of the buildings by the end of the year, with occupancy projected for 2009. The ground floors of the two buildings will have a total of 20,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The National Gateway project now includes several developers, ranging from Camden Realty Trust to Comstock Homebuilding Cos. Once finished, the project is expected to include seven office buildings, approximately 210,000 square feet of retail space and more than 1,500 rental apartments and for-sale condos.
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Council to Consider 3 Major Developments (in Wyoming) (WY)
Jackson Hole News (10/16/06) Brenner, Noah

In Wyoming, the Jackson Town Council currently is considering three major mixed-use redevelopment projects for its downtown corridor. Among them is Lespri Resorts LLC's plan to build a mixed-use project at the site of the White Buffalo building at Miller Park. While the area currently is not big enough to fit into the "planned mixed-use development" (PMD) category, regulations do permit councilors to consider smaller properties. Lespri is looking to develop between 27,000 and 43,000 square feet of commercial and residential space on the lots. The second project under consideration is Pierson Land Works' request for Master Plan approval for a 17,091-sq.-ft. PMD. The three-story project would feature retail on the ground floor, offices on the second level and a single residential unit on the top floor. Finally, the council expects to hold a pre-application meeting with Pearl and Jackson Development LLC on its plans to erect a 27,000-sq.-ft. building on a 13,500-sq.-ft. property downtown. However, council members will consider a PMD moratorium next month.
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