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Feature Article, August 2005
Building On Enclosed Mall Roots
Mall pioneer David Hocker & Associates is at it again, developing a new mall for a growing community.
Randall Shearin
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A rendering of the entrance at The Mall at Turtle Creek, which David Hocker & Associates is developing in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Rendering courtesy of CMH Architects.
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In a day when lifestyle centers dominate, one mall pioneer is holding fast. David Hocker, who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, is developing a new enclosed mall in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Mall at Turtle Creek will be one of the few enclosed malls to open in the United States in the next 2 years. But for those who know Hocker know that The Mall at Turtle Creek has been an idea in progress for a long time. Hocker originally began looking at the site 20 years ago. His son (and now business partner and president of the company), Talmage, was a sophomore in college when Hocker began looking at the site for development. Today, Talmage's daughter is a sophomore in college as construction is well underway. “It is a generational development for our family,” jokes David Hocker, who serves as chairman of David Hocker & Associates (DHA), based in Owensboro, Kentucky. “It has been a little over 20 years since we started working on this opportunity. We had to work for a long time to get to the point where we could make the mall happen.”
The Mall at Turtle Creek, says David Hocker, is one of the most unusual projects that he has been involved with over his career. Along with MBC Holdings, who is co-developer of the project, The Mall at Turtle Creek began construction earlier this year and will open in March 2006. DHA is handling the leasing, financing and management of the project. The Mall at Turtle Creek is DHA's 24th mall development. Located northwest of Memphis and northeast of Little Rock, Jonesboro is a dynamic trade area of approximately 350,000 people. Arkansas State University, with 14,000 students enrolled, and strong employers like Nestle, Frito-Lay and St. Bernard's Medical Center, add to the area's economic make-up.
“We will have the largest retail destination in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri,” says Philip Purdom, DHA's director of leasing. “Jonesboro is the regional center for commerce, banking and insurance.”
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A rendering of the interior portion of The Mall at Turtle Creek. Rendering courtesy of CMH Architects.
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The Mall at Turtle Creek will have three anchors, three sub-anchors and 80 small shops when it opens. JC Penney, Dillard's and Target will anchor the center. It is Target's first location in the market. Sub-anchors include big boxes Bed Bath & Beyond, Circuit City and Barnes & Noble, all of which are new to the market. Among the mall's small shop tenants, about 60 to 65 of the 80 spaces will be for tenants that are new to the Jonesboro market. Of the center's five outparcels, four are committed. “We're putting the big boxes in as part of the mall to achieve the true lifestyle feel to this center. We consider it to be a hybrid. These three key big box players are an asset to the overall leasing program for The Mall at Turtle Creek,” says Purdom.
While the center is enclosed, it does have a main street lifestyle feel that is exterior in nature. Different than enclosed malls of yesteryear, The Mall at Turtle Creek's anchors and sub-anchors line the front side of the mall, while small shop space is planted in an enclosed portion between the anchors. Entrances between the anchors allow customers to enter the mall, and allow visibility for the mall's tenants. The center's design, created by Birmingham, Alabama-based CMH Architects, incorporates the regional mall with a lifestyle center feel. Adding to the lifestyle feel, there are two rows of store-side parking, complete with brick pavers, at the front of the center. This area gives more of a plaza feel than of a mall.
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An aerial of the construction site for The Mall at Turtle Creek.
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“The center has positives of an enclosed mall and the positives of a lifestyle center,” says David Hocker. “All of the exterior stores will feed the interior stores. It is a true hybrid center with enclosed mall roots.” The single-level mall includes small shop tenants such as Chico's, Hollister, Coldwater Creek, Charlotte, Russe, Gap, Victoria's Secret, Aeropostale, Buckle, Bath & Body Works, Zale and Hot Topic. Anchors will be accessible from both the interior and exterior of the mall. A food court will house tenants like Sbarro, Steak Escape and Subway. The small tenant space is 77 percent committed 8 months from opening.
“We are ahead of the pro-forma at this point, and we think a lot of that is due to the success we have in leasing centers in middle markets,” says Talmage Hocker. “We have a talent for identifying very strong, underserved markets that need retail.”
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An aerial of The Mall at Turtle Creek.
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David Hocker, who served as ICSC's chairman during 1989-1990, was — along with his associates — a big player in regional mall development in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. During the 1990s, the company sold off a lot of its portfolio and has, in recent years, been quietly acquiring centers around the country. It has also continued to sell select centers from its portfolio in a time when strong cap rates have driven demand. The company has been involved in the development or ownership of more than 45 centers across the U.S. DHA has three sites it has acquired for new projects under contract as well. The company expects to announce those projects in the near future and develop them over the next few years.
In addition, DHA is planning an expansion and renovation of The Mall at Barnes Crossing in Tupelo, Mississippi. In recent years, the company was involved in the development of The Vanderbilt Collection, a 350,000-square-foot specialty center in Naples, Florida. However, DHA recently sold the project to Florida-based Woolbright Development.
“Historically, we've gone wherever the opportunity takes us,” says David Hocker. “Right now, we are active in Florida and the Southeast, but we have been everywhere and we will pretty much go wherever the deal is. We like to focus on what we are doing at the current time. We don't have a multitude of projects underway at any given time. Our activity level is in line with our resources.”
“Our projects tend to be more in middle-market areas than in large markets,” says Talmage Hocker. “They are markets in need of retail and they all have large market appeal because of the incomes that are in the areas.”
While in smaller markets, DHA's projects are generally the only game in town. The Mall at Barnes Crossing, for instance, is currently 98 percent leased and has been generating above-average sales per square foot for most of its life. With the Tupelo market growing, the center is prime for expansion. The company hopes that a lifestyle component to the center will be just what the community needs.
DHA has also developed over 1 million square feet of retail in its hometown of Owensboro, and it has another deal in the works in the town. For the future, the company plans to develop two to three projects over the next 3 years while also acquiring existing centers. While not an ambitious goal, none of the executives at DHA hope to return to the harried pace of the 1980s.
“We want to develop the right properties for us and for the community at the pace we set,” says David Hocker.
©2005 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
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