News
TWO TOWERS ON TAP FOR STREETS
March 31, 2011
| The Streets of Buckhead will still be an upscale mixed-use project with two high-rise apartment buildings. And no hotels. See below for the details from this morning's Bisnow Atlanta Retail Summit at the Westin Buckhead | |
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| That's the vision shared by the new owners of Atlanta's most talked about stalled retail project. Hunter Richardson, a retail industry consultant with Richardson Development Group (he helped Coke with its Pemberton Place project and is heading up the day-to-day project management for The Streets of Buckhead), says OliverMcMillan will continue to pursue a mix of luxury and specialty retailers for the project but declined to name any specific tenants. He was quick to say the look would be a ?village? concept versus ?trying to create a … version of Rodeo Drive.? Hunter says OliverMcMillan should be closing on the property in Q2 with construction commencing by year's end. Aside from the apartment towers, the project will include350k SF of retail and 40k to 50k SF of office space. | |
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| Hunter was interviewed by Hartman Simons' Bob Simons. OliverMcMillan, of course, was brought in by investors late last year after Ben Carter was unable to complete the project given the tanking economy and credit markets. ?We're getting tremendous interest from the retail community, and we're getting tremendous interest from the restaurant community,? Hunter says. While he gave no build-out date for the project, he says the development will happenall at once instead of phases. And the City of Atlanta has formed a ?green light committee? to fast-track any permit issues that may arise, he says, a program the city similarly enacted with Jacoby Development during the development of Atlantic Station. | |
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| North American Properties' Ron Pfohl told our audience of some 300CRE pros that one of the first steps in re-merchandizing Atlantic Station includes ridding the project of some problem retailers (like the recent forced closure of Geisha House, which became a ?lounge? after hours, bringing an undesired element to Atlantic Station). As part of Atlantic Station's retail village re-merchandizing, Ron says the plan's to lure in retailers that ?resonate? with a 25 to 35-year-oldcrowd. ?If there's a hot brand, we want to make sure it's represented at Atlantic Station,? Ron says. Ultimately, he says North American Properties hopes center retailers achieve $600/SF in sales because that translates into about $60/SF in rents. | |
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| Ron was part of our retail landlord panel that included Mimms Enterprises' president Robert Mimms, Centro Properties' Southeast SVP Mark Worley, Ron, Regency Center's Andre Koleszar and our moderator, Bob Simons. The panelists were unanimous in their declaration that things in the retail market are healthier than they've seen in a long time, with national chains all looking to expand. ?We have seen multiple tenants vying for the same space, and that hasn't happened in three-and-a-half years,? Andre says. While the activity has been largely focused on stronger retail centers, Andre also says he's seen a 21% uptick in leasing at ?tougher centers,? including the back end of Dunwoody Village, a Fresh Market-anchored shopping center in the center of the City of Dunwoody. | |
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| And believe it or not, new retailers are entering the Atlanta market—as CBRE's Amy Fingerhut can attest. Andre called out Amy (seen here with Regency Center's Leslie Mintz) during the event to let folks know she helped Road Runner Sports enter the Atlanta market with its first 5,600 SF store at Powers Ferry Square (Leslie repped the landlord). Amy tells us Road Runner—a retailer that caters to runners, maybe even really fast ones—has plans to open two or three more stores in the metro area. ?We're already scouting for our second site,? she tells us. She also says she's been a long-time fan of Road Runner, being a marathoner herself and evenbeing on the cover of the company's catalogue back in 2007. |
