COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, CA—Retail development is going strong in the County of San Bernardino. We caught up with John Hunter, vice president and director of development with City of Industry, CA-based Majestic Realty Retail, who talked specifically about his firm's project, Mountain Grove at Citrus Plaza, which is in the early development stage.

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Located adjacent to the City of Redlands in San Bernardino County at the San Bernardino Avenue and Interstate 210 interchange, Mountain Grove is the 47-acre contiguous sister project to Majestic's 520,000-square-foot Citrus Plaza Shopping Center. Upon completion in summer 2015, Mountain Grove will be a 460,000-square-foot power center with a final 17-acre phase II to follow in 2016. Together, Mountain Grove and Citrus Plaza will ultimately provide 1.2 million square feet of retail, hospitality and entertainment uses.

GlobeSt.com: Mountain Grove, which stalled during the recession, is now under development. Why do you feel the time is right?

John Hunter: The economy has picked up considerably since 2008-2010. Mergers and consolidations along with growing internet sales have weeded out concepts that didn't work leaving the surviving companies with better balance sheets and leaner operations. Retailers across the country have seen their sales and profits improve as consumer spending has accelerated out of the recession. Most of the well-located big box stores that became vacant during the recession have been re-leased creating demand for new construction as companies pursue growth thru new store opportunities. We are well positioned to participate in the County's economic recovery, and we are very optimistic about the continued growth and success of the Citrus Plaza and Mountain Grove projects.

GlobeSt.com: Who have you signed on for Mountain Grove and what kinds of new retailers are interested in coming to the project? How will they complement Citrus Plaza?

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John Hunter: 24 Hour Fitness, Hobby Lobby, Nordstrom Rack, Tilly's, h.h. gregg, T.J.Maxx, and HomeGoods and buybuyBaby have all signed leases. Another 100,000 square feet of tenants are in lease negotiations which should conclude this May. Citrus Plaza performed very well through the recession with nearly 100% tenant retention. We view the Mountain Grove tenant line-up as complementary to our Citrus Plaza tenants as there are very few competing concepts within the two centers. Our goal is to provide the broadest mix of goods and services available. Ultimately the two projects will have approximately 1.2 million square feet of entertainment, food and promotionally oriented retailers which will make our location a dominant Inland Empire shopping hub for many years to come.

GlobeSt.com: Can you tell me about your customer base and how you communicate with them?

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John Hunter: Our primary trade area includes middle and upper income, well-educated, employed residents of the Redlands, Yucaipa, Highland and San Bernardino communities. Because of our close proximity and direct access to Interstates 10 and 210, our secondary trade area reaches much further on both an east–west and north–south axis. We have become a destination for many Inland Empire residents. The retailers communicate with their customers in a variety of in-store, mail and internet promotions. Additionally, we assist them through special seasonal events. We are currently in the process of broadening our communications by expanding our website capabilities and increasing the frequency of our announcements and events.

GlobeSt.com: How has the County of San Bernardino supported your retail developments in the past and currently?

John Hunter: The County of San Bernardino Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and planning staff have been very supportive of our projects. These developments were very complicated in some respects. They required competent, diligent, forward-thinking individuals working in the public sector to bring them together. We have been fortunate to have had an excellent working relationship with the County for over a decade and we expect it to continue indefinitely. We believe the County has been pleased with our efforts as our project currently generates significant sales tax, property taxes and employment opportunities for the region.

Join the County of San Bernardino at ICSC RECon 2014 in Las Vegas May 18–20 at booth number C183H.