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Feature Article, May 2005 Lifestyle Only
Stanbery Development has a pipeline of lifestyle projects in development.
Randall Shearin
The development of lifestyle centers has been something that Columbus, Ohio-based Stanbery Development is very proficient at — lifestyle centers are the sole focus of the young company. The company's first three projects — The Shoppes at Union Hill in Denville, New Jersey; The Shoppes at English Village in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania; and The Shoppes at Susquehanna Marketplace in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — all have great sales. The company currently has four centers under development that will come online during 2006 and 2007.
Shopping Center Business recently spoke with Mark Pottschmidt, Ray Brunt, Jon Meyer and Kathy Sawin about the company's new pipeline of development.
A secret to Stanbery's success is its tenants. The company's developments are all tenant-driven, which is why you will find a lot of the same tenants across its portfolio. Tenants often tell Stanbery locations where they would like to be, and Stanbery works with local brokers to locate and secure sites for its 100,000- to 150,000-square-foot lifestyle centers.
“If there are one or two national retailers who are expressing interest in a void in a certain market, there are usually more who are interested,” says Brunt. “As an example, if Gap says its interested in a particular market, chances are Ann Taylor and Talbot's will also be interested.”
The success that the retailers have had in Stanbery's first three properties has created a level of trust between the two parties and, Brunt says, many retailers have sent Stanbery “out on missions” to locate new sites. Talbot's, Jos. A. Bank and Chico's, for example, have opened at all three of Stanbery's existing centers.
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The entry to The Shoppes at Old Bridge. Mercer County, New Jersey.
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The next center that Stanbery will open is The Shoppes at Old Bridge in Old Bridge, New Jersey. As with its existing centers, Stanbery has found a site in an upscale retail void in the midst of a very dense market. The company already has commitments from its core group of retailers — Gap Inc., Chico's, Ann Taylor Loft, Coldwater Creek and Jos. A. Bank. The project is about 70 percent committed, and Stanbery expects to break ground on the center this fall. Next on the list is The Shoppes at Wyomissing in Berks County, Pennsylvania. There, Stanbery was able to find a location for the 100,000-square-foot center that is close to all the retail in the greater Reading area. It is a secondary market that is starved for lifestyle retail. From a demographic standpoint, the numbers are similar to those in Harrisburg, where Stanbery opened The Shoppes at Susquehanna Marketplace in 2004. The retailers at the Harrisburg project have sales that are substantially greater than their projections, and many are looking at The Shoppes at Wyomissing for expansion potential.
“This site is at the front door of the established retail in Reading,” says Sawin, who joined the company in January. Her career in leasing includes a 20-year stint with Williams-Jackson-Ewing and many leasing assignments of high-profile projects including Merchants Square in Colonial Williamsburg, Suburban Square on Philadelphia's Main Line and Gallery Place in Washington, D.C.
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An aerial with a rendering (at left) of The Shoppes of North Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey.
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The company plans to begin development on The Shoppes at North Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the spring of 2006. Located at the intersection of Routes 1 and 130, the 150,000-square-foot center will have incredible traffic passing by it daily. The center is also 10 miles from the nearest mall. The 5-mile trade area also has nearly 36,000 households with household income greater than $75,000. In Mercer County, New Jersey, the company is developing The Shoppes at Hamilton in a growing area that is void of upscale retail.
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Site plan of The Shoppes at Hamilton in Mercer County, New Jersey.
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“The center is located in a pocket of population that has really developed in the last 5 to 10 years,” says Brunt. Located on Route 130 near Interstate 195, the area has become popular with people who commute to New York and Philadelphia because of its proximity to rail and road corridors. The 130,000-square-foot center will open in 2007. In April, Stanbery announced that it will develop, along with Jeffrey M. Brown & Associates, the 225,000-square-foot The Shoppes at Coconut Creek in Coconut Creek, Florida. The center is located in an expanding part of northwest Broward County that has 370,000 people in a 5-mile radius of the site with an average income of $75,000.
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The Shoppes at Old Bridge as it will look at night.
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The Shoppes at Old Bridge will be the first of Stanbery's new projects to open in the fall of 2006. The remainder of the projects will begin development within the next 12 months. Stanbery often finds sites where big box centers have been turned down for development. Because of the stigma that communities have about big box development, they are often more likely to approve a lifestyle center, says Pottschmidt.
“Towns often want something more upscale,” he says. “We're not afraid to show them nice architecture and nice finishes. Our tenant mix is usually exactly what they are looking for. We are often able to drop right in the middle of the demographics of what our tenants are seeking.”
“This is a very nice amenity to the town,” adds Brunt. “They are not going to get a retail center that looks better than this or more upscale than this. It really delivers something to the town that they can be proud of.”
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The Shoppes at Old Bridge, Old Bridge, New Jersey.
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Stanbery matches its architecture to the community. In Denville, New Jersey, The Shoppes at Union Hill sat next to an historic barn, so Stanbery used a rural barn theme throughout the center. At The Shoppes at Old Bridge, the company is using a more vertical design to accommodate the 24,000 square feet of office space. The company also added a water tower atop the second floor to add visibility to the project. The tower will be visible from Routes 9 and 18 and it is using the tower as the center's logo. “We try to add architectural elements that make us stand out from a typical retail center,” says Meyer. “It is also something that the township can embrace as a landmark.” Municipalities have noticed the barn features at Union Hill and the proposed water tower and wall mural features at Old Bridge and are asking “what can we do to make this project unique to our community.”
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A mural evokes a destination for the Shoppes at Old Bridge.
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Retailers also like the size of Stanbery's centers. At 100,000 to 150,000 square feet, the retailers really can't get lost in the center.
“You can't get hidden in a project like this,” says Brunt. “You have visibility from anywhere in the center. The retailers also like the accessibility and the co-tenancy.”
Following on its current pipeline, Stanbery has other developments in the works. While it has so far developed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the company is looking at opportunities in other areas on the East Coast. Brunt and Sawin are based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively, and the company's local presence leads it to a lot of development opportunities in the area.
“At this point, we have a great team in place and we are moving to where our tenants want us to be,” says Pottschmidt.
©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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