Now, construction is steadily progressing at the new 375,000-sf outdoor mall. Paul Kesman, spokesman for developer Robert B. Aikens & Associates of Troy, says the company hopes to open the complex Sept. 19.
"Construction is moving along aggressively," he tells GlobeSt.com about the 33-acre site. "It's going to be a full-scale kind of town center, with two anchors and 40 other odd retailers on both sides of a village-style main street."
Most of the retailers have already signed leases, Kesman says.
The anchors of a 122,000-sf Parisian store and a Food Emporium market are signed on, including retailers such as Bath and Body Works, Baja Fresh, The Bombay Co. and Abercrombie and Fitch. Moosejaw and Coldwater Creek just signed leases, Kesman says, leaving about 12,000-sf left vacant on the site, which he says should be filled by opening.
"A lot of these stores said this project is the only place where they're opening new locations this year," Kesman says. "That speaks to the viability of the project."
Aikens has owned the property for 30 years. Kesman says the developer approached the city in 1991 for plans to develop on the site. However, those plans fell through while Parisian recovered from near bankruptcy.
Kesman says the city was under pressure in 1995-96 from some of the neighbors to save the land, and it was rezoned from vacant land to cluster housing.
"That didn't sit too well with Aikens, so they filed a lawsuit. Four years later, they have finally reached a consent judgment," he says.
The consent judgment was signed in 2000, and had a three-year timetable on development, Kesman says. Aikens stepped up the required 2003 opening date.
The new outdoor mall requires road changes and about 1,500 parking spaces. It's one of the first examples of de-malling, a process of shifting an indoor mall to outdoor use, in the state.
"It's a trend that's carrying across the country," Kesman says. "We're creating a central business district for Rochester Hills. We're very confident of success, especially with the amount of interest from retailers."
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