"It affects everything we do," said Mandelbaum, who is also co-chair of ICSC's New Jersey Next Generation Chapter. "How will things change?" he asked panelists. The general message was that it could force developers to put more uses on-site besides retail, including entertainment and other interactive uses.
"Our focus has been on downtowns," said Reed Cordish, third-generation VP of the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. "People can live, work, be entertained and more. As gas becomes more of an issue, density and walkability become more important."
Indeed, one of Cordish's major projects is located in this seaside gaming mecca. The two-phase, 670,000-sf Atlantic City Outlets-The Walk boasts a number of stores that "do the highest per-sf sales in their chains," Cordish said.
"We are increasingly focused on urban development, transit-oriented development," said Richard T. Burns, a principal of the Baltimore-based Design Collective Inc., whose firm has done the design work for a number of Cordish projects. "We will continue to see a lot more urban projects attached to mass transportation. We are also LEED certified and have been involved in sustainability for some time."
Cordish started its urban development push in earnest in the 1980s - Reed's father David had a several-year stint at HUD during the Carter Administration and was involved in the launch of the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program.
"The company decided that the focus had to be more urban downtown 'experience' and entertainment-based," Cordish related. "We couldn't really compete with the larger suburban developers, so we formed our own niche."
"They're the kind of projects, destinations, where people don't just come on weekends," Burns said. "They're also there on weekdays. The key is to know how to 'energize' a project. The focus is not traditional retail, but entertainment-based."
Cordish admitted that such projects often require substantial public/private involvement, especially if there are remediation, tax-increment financing and other public issues involved. "There has to be a true public-private partnership," he said, noting such projects as the Power Plant in Baltimore, a mixed-use conversion of a power plant that required substantial cooperation on several levels.
Cordish reviewed several of his company's projects as examples tracing to the program's theme, everything from Ballpark Village in St. Louis, near that city's new stadium, to Woodbine Live! In Toronto, to the NASCAR-themed Daytona Live! in Florida. Cordish has also trademarked the Live! Theme, using it at several locations.
Indeed, next up is Philly Live!, an ambitious retail, entertainment, restaurant development proposed for Philadelphia. As currently planned in concert with Comcast, it would effectively link the city's football and baseball stadiums and new arena, all located in proximity.
"It is currently in the discussion and planning stage," Cordish said. "We hope to have phase one opened by 2010."
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