COSTA MESA, CA—Creating “outdoor living rooms” for customers to gather, relax, shop, dine, be entertained and much more is the main idea behind modern retail centers that are far from boxed in in any way, Nadel Architects owner and design director Greg Lyon tells GlobeSt.com.
Orange County, for one, from the OC Mix to the Anaheim Packing District to Union Market, has experienced a shift toward the culinary experience. This trend is certainly not exclusive to OC since food-centric destinations are exceling across the country, from New York's Chelsea Market to L.A.'s new Eataly, and it is due, in part, to the additional discretionary income consumers have to spend since the end of the recession. There's also something to be said for the role played by today's “foodie” culture, perpetuated by Instagram, Yelp and more.
The common theme in all of these destinations is the environment is truly the anchor. More so than any one restaurant or retailer, shoppers and diners are drawn to these locations for the environments themselves. One such project the firm is working on is The Trails in Silverdale, WA, a new, 200,000-square-foot retail complex developed by CenterCal Properties LLC offering culinary, boutique and entertainment experiences.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
