A national developer is betting on a retail recovery

An avalanche of retail closings and bankruptcies sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and the growing popularity of online shopping left tens of thousands of stores empty in the United States. But at least one market observer, Coresight Research, recently forecast for the first time in five years the 5,083 store openings retailers announced in 2021 could have exceeded the 5,079 store closures announced for that year, the lowest number of closings in half a decade.

Nobody claims that retail is still a healthy sector. But the patient is showing signs of recovery: In its outlook for the third quarter of 2021, JLL noted that retail sales are increasing and pedestrian frequency in shopping centers was around 25 percent above the 2020 level (admittedly a lower bar). More importantly, JLL also noted that by the first half of 2021, 41,000 leases for CHF 121 million had been signed. “For the first time since 2017, retailers will open more stores than close.”

SimonCRE, a national commercial property acquisition and development company, is hoping the retail sector will regain momentum. Recent developments include Village at Prasada, which the company claims will be the first major energy hub in the western United States in over a decade.

Phase 1 of this project, construction of which began last month, includes more than 330,000 s of retail space. The 250,000-sf

Construction phase 2 is scheduled to begin this year. The cost of developing Village at Prasada is estimated at $ 500 million, according to SimonCRE.

By last month, Village of Prasada had commitments for more than 90 percent of its planned space and had leases with retailers such as TJ Maxx, Costco, HomeGoods, Marshalls, Ulta and PetSmart. The energy center will also include a 61,000-square-foot bowling and movie entertainment concept called Fat Cats, as well as a restaurant suite that includes the local nano-brewery OHSO and the renowned Mexican restaurant Barrio Queen. (Western Retail Advisors is the leasing agent for this project.)

PART OF A MASTER PLAN FOR AN ASCENDING SUBURB

The energy center is located on 100 acres in Surprise, Arizona, one of the fastest growing suburbs on Metro Phoenix. Village at Prasada is part of a 3,355 square meter master plan community by RED Development that will bring medical services, offices, hospitality, 14,000 single-family homes and 360 multi-family homes to this market. The power plant’s immediate trading area is expected to have 220,029 residents by 2025, 10 percent more than the estimated population in 2020.

SimonCRE’s participation in the master plan, which includes the development of two 3- and 4-story apartment buildings, which will break the ground in late 2022 and early 2023, “was born out of the desire not only to address unsatisfied demand for retail properties Phoenix’s West Valley, but rather being a trendsetter by building something bold and new, ”said Joshua Simon, CEO and founder of SimonCRE, in a prepared statement.

In an email to BD + C, the company stated that it could see a “strong enough” need for this type of outdoor mall, which was confirmed by a survey of 5,100 residents who specifically asked several of the tenants who would rent space in the Village of Prasada .

The construction team on this project includes Suite 6 Architecture + Planning and Upward Architects (Renderings), RKAA Architects, Upward Architects, ADA Architects Inc., HDJ Architects and Architectural Design Guild (Architects), Olsson Engineers, Cypress Civil Engineers, Bowman Consulting (Engineers ) and Haydon and Stout Building Contractors (GCs).

SimonCRE is expected to complete approximately 600,000 sf of retail space in the greater Phoenix area over the next two years and has more than 1.2 million sf of retail space under development nationwide.