Lifestyle Comes to Dayton

COLUMBUS, OH-However you define it, the lifestyle center isn’t just an up-and-coming concept anymore, if Glimcher Realty Trust’s plans for its two mall properties in the Dayton, OH, area are any indication. Instead, lifestyle centers are now standard in the retail world, and Glimcher intends to capitalize on their popularity by retrofitting Fairfield Commons in suburban Beavercreek, OH, and the Dayton Mall in Dayton to include lifestyle elements.

“We considered building a third center in the market,” Michael P. Glimcher, president of the REIT, tells GSR. “But we asked ourselves, why not add to what’s already strong? Our two properties in the Dayton area are already number one and two in the market, so we decided to build on that — literally.”

At Fairfield Commons, Glimcher plans to add about 50,000 sf of space in the form of a new row of open-air shops erected against one of the center’s wall, giving the new stores a southern exposure. At the Dayton Mall, the addition will be more of a “village setting,” according to Michael Glimcher: about 100,000 sf of freestanding retail space clustered together in what’s now surface parking for the mall. If all goes according to plan, the two additions will be complete in late 2005 or early 2006.