Macerich also disclosed agreements were reached with two anchors, Century Theatres and Wild Oats Market--which is also planning to move its headquarters to the mixed-use center. Demolition of the enclosed mall is expected to begin by early fall, paving the way for phased store openings in late 2005 and 2006 at the 65-acre site, which will be rebuilt to accommodate approximately 827,000 sf of gross leasable area in three distinct neighborhoods bisected by extensions of its namesake city street and Canyon Boulevard.
The site will be bordered by 28th Street, 30th Street, Walnut Street and Arapahoe Avenue. A fourth neighborhood with three to four acres is expected to be developed at a later date with housing.
"The planning board's decision is a significant milestone in our 21-month effort to move forward on the redevelopment of this prime site in one of America's most coveted, under-served markets," says David Scholl, senior vice president, development for Macerich's Westcor development subsidiary, which is directing the project. "When we presented our plans at the International Council of Shopping Centers Convention in May, retailers were very excited, but also skeptical given Boulder's well known development constraints. We can now expect the guarded optimism that we saw at the convention turn into pure enthusiasm, as we aggressively move forward on lease negotiations."
Letters of intent were signed with Wild Oats and Century, which will join existing anchor Foley's-—the remaining retailer from the original mall—-at the redeveloped site. In addition to building a flagship, 35,000-sf Wild Oats Natural Marketplace that will anchor the property's convenience-oriented Southwest Neighborhood, locally based Wild Oats agreed to relocate from its current 50,000-sf headquarters elsewhere in the city to 80,000 sf of newly-constructed offices in the center's former Sears building.
The natural food retailer's headquarters would become a major component of Twenty Ninth Street's Central Neighborhood, along with the 150,000-sf Foley's and the 51,000-sf, 16-screen Century multiplex. They will be accompanied in the property's core lifestyle area by two-story, street-front and plaza buildings offering a variety of specialty stores and boutiques, restaurants and cafes, upper-level offices, and public space set in plaza areas.
Plans for the property's Southwest Neighborhood call for the Wild Oats store to be joined by complementary retail and service shops and US Bank, which signed an agreement to relocate from its existing corner site to a new space along 28th Street. The upscale grocery will include a café.
The Southeast Neighborhood is expected to be anchored by a home improvement center and will be located just across 29th Street from the Southwest Neighborhood.
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