Lifestyle Centers Gain Momentum

WASHINGTON, DC-Area developers are pursuing lifestyle development retail centers almost as much as their counterparts in warmer climates in the south. “Anecdotally the same trends we are watching across the country are also happening in the DC area,” says Anita Kramer, director of retail development for the Urban Land Institute. “Lifestyle centers have been around for some time, but within the last five to six years they have become very popular among developers.”

Across the country, a spokesperson for the International Council of Shopping Centers says, there are some 26 centers projected to open for 2006. Specifically in the DC-area, two slated to open this year and next: the Potomac Town Center and the Streets Of Albermarle in Charlottesville, VA.

A spokesman for Montgomery Count’s Department of Economic Development says that the county has been at the forefront of this movement. “The Kentlands development (in Gaithersburg, MD) was among the first to offer a town center, mixed use type-development in the region.” It went on to win numerous awards and spawn additional growth, he says.