Comments on: A New Generation of Malls Track Downtown, Again http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=3208 Design, Development, Place Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:59:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: claudia http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=3208&cpage=1#comment-3105 claudia Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:48:21 +0000 http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=3208#comment-3105 Chain creep! Just like Soho in NYC went from gritty to groovy to Gap. It’s a kind of retail gentrification–adding more value, but removing interest.

]]> By: gk http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=3208&cpage=1#comment-3104 gk Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:40:42 +0000 http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=3208#comment-3104 Its an interesting trend and highlights the need for the mall developer to want to create a varied, multi-faceted experience and continue to exert the kind of control of quality and co-tenancy that distinguish a mall (indoor/outdoor/street oriented) from retail stemming from fragmented ownership patterns.

An interesting issue: The mall operator realizes the importance of dining and other activities to a thriving retail experience. In fragmented ownership, flagship credit retail tenants (national brands) are more desirable to the individual landowner due to high rents. Restaurants are not. On a fragmented shopping promenade like Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road individual owners are gravitating to the noteworthy retail tenants because it is better for them, while the trend away from dining may not be in the best interests of the Lincoln Road generally. Over time this may hurt the individual landowner, but in the short term it is too attractive to pass up.

In this regard the consolidated ownership pattern of a Federal Realty may create an ersatz experience, but it may also create a more durable one.

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