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The best word to describe the current retail real estate market in Connecticut is “stabilized.” The majority of the big box and junior anchor vacancies resulting from downsizing and bankruptcies have been absorbed. Although rental rates are still not at pre-recession levels, new construction — which has been absent over the last few years — is now being seen with multiple projects throughout the state.
In Brookfield, Samuels & Associates recently completed a redevelopment of an existing 40-year-old shopping center on Federal Road by demolishing the majority of the existing shopping center adjacent to a freestanding Kohl’s and constructing a BJ’s Wholesale Club along with several restaurant pads. The project will also debut the first Chick-fil-A in Connecticut.
Walmart Neighborhood Market has opened its first two Connecticut locations. The first opened at Edens redevelopment of the Bishops Corner West shopping center in West Hartford followed by the opening of a freestanding store in a former Shaw’s Supermarket on Route 6 in Bristol. Walmart has also opened a new Walmart Supercenter on Route 5 in East Windsor that is a relocation of an older Walmart on the opposite side of Route 5. Also, Walmart will soon open a new freestanding supercenter in Brooklyn, Conn.
Other retailers active in the state include LA Fitness with new clubs in Stratford, Farmington and Milford. Whole Foods recently opened a new store on the former Marcus Dairy site across from Macerich’s Danbury Fair Mall. This new development also includes Petco, Eastern Mountain Sports and Panera Bread among others.
In downtown Hartford, HB Nitkin is putting the finishing touches on its Front Street District, across from the Connecticut Convention Center. This retail portion of the Adriaen’s Landing development totals 150,000 square feet of retail space with a newly opened Capital Grille as well as the four-screen stadium-seating Spotlight Theaters which also includes Front Street Bistro, its own full-service restaurant. Infinity Music Hall will also anchor this project with a 16,000-square-foot live music venue with seating for 500. Other tenants with signed leases but who have not yet opened include Ted’s Montana Grill, Pinkberry and Nix’s Kitchen.
In Storrs, home of the main campus of the University of Connecticut and its 22,000 students, Leyland Alliance is moving forward with the final stages of its mixed-use development known as Storrs Center. At final build out, Storrs Center will contain 700 units of rental housing and 200,000 square feet of retail and office space. The project is designed around a town square and is envisioned as a walkable town center, which up until now has been missing from the UCONN community. Tenants in the retail portion include Price Chopper, CVS, the UCONN Co-op Bookstore, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Mooya Burgers & Fries, 7-Eleven, Insomnia Cookies, and Froyoworld as well as Geno’s Grille, owned by nationally known UCONN women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
In Wesport, one of the wealthiest communities in the state, Charter Realty & Development in partnership with David Adam Realty recently received Planning & Zoning Commission approval for its mixed use $100 million Bedford Square development that will contain retail, restaurant, office and residential space along with two levels of underground parking. Construction is anticipated to start in spring of 2014 with a completion time frame of 18 to 24 months. The project, comprising the entire length of Church Lane, from the corner of Main Street and Post Road to the corner of Elm Street, is the largest development project in decades for downtown Westport and involves both the construction of new buildings as well as the renovation of others.
The Connecticut State Bond Commission last month approved funding to allow the start of construction of the first phase of the Steel Point development in Bridgeport. Steel Point, which has now received all of its required right-to-build entitlements, will ultimately contain 2.8 million square feet of retail, hotel and multifamily space. Anchored by a 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shop, construction of the 200,000-square-foot phase 1 portion of this project is scheduled to start this month with occupancy in late fall 2014. Ferrara Jerum of Rochester, N.Y., is leasing the retail portion of this development and is in the process of finalizing an additional 200,000 square feet of leases which will open in 2015.
WS Development has changed direction on a project originally conceived as a major lifestyle development prior to the recession and is now successfully moving forward with The Outlets at Cheshire, a 400,000-square-foot open-air outlet project. Located on 104 acres at the intersection of I-691 and Route 10, The Outlets at Cheshire will draw from all of central Connecticut. The project is scheduled to start construction in spring of 2014 with an opening in summer of 2015.
— Jed Hayes, principal, Sullivan Hayes Northeast/TCN Worldwide