Retail Rushes to Retain Relevancy in Redevelopment
A recent lease reflects another trend with not only tenants expanding via existing vacancies but larger vacancies being redeveloped for multi-tenant use, given this space was originally a Best Buy and is now a Guitar Center and Spec’s.
CEDAR HILL, TX—After the passing of a new liquor law, Spec’s Wine Spirits & Finer Foods has leased a 16,770-square-foot junior anchor space at Cedar Hill Pointe for a new location. Spec’s is expected to open during the second quarter of 2020 at the regional-draw center located at the northwest corner of US Highway 67 and Pleasant Run Road.
Cedar Hill Pointe benefits from its accessible visible intersection that reports nearly 100,000 vehicles per day and a dense trade area with approximately 160,000 people within a five-mile radius. And, a new exit ramp off of US 67 offers immediate access to the center.
At Cedar Hill Pointe, the popular retailer joins a tenant mix that includes Guitar Center, Jason’s Deli, Mattress Firm, Allstate, FedEx Office, Sherwin Williams and Sprint.
Michelle Caplan with Weitzman handled negotiations for Spec’s. Blane O’Banion, Michael Sweet and Scott Smith with Weitzman represented the landlord.
In another interesting twist, Cedar Hill voted in favor of liquor sales last year, making this is a new retail option for the growing market. This is the first Spec’s for the southern Dallas County area, along with Total Wine also staking out a spot here.
“The wet vote in Cedar Hill last year created the opportunity for a retail category that Cedar Hill had not seen,” O’Banion, senior vice president and director of portfolio leasing for Weitzman, tells GlobeSt.com. “That doesn’t happen very often, and I know that the people of Cedar Hill are going to enjoy shopping closer to home. The center offers a great location with fantastic visibility and easy access to the freeway, and the addition of Spec’s will further strengthen the center, and enhance our tenant mix and further increase traffic. We are already seeing an increased interest in the few vacancies that we have, and I anticipate those will be leased up very soon.”
This lease also reflects another trend with not only tenants expanding within existing vacancies but larger vacancies being redeveloped for multi-tenant use. This Cedar Hill Pointe location was originally a Best Buy and is now occupied by Guitar Center and Spec’s.
This big-box redevelopment is not the only trend in leasing. The power center category reported nearly 600,000 square feet in net leasing, more than any other category. In fact, when Toys “R” Us failed in 2018 and left 700,000 square feet vacant, it was predicted the vacancies would be short-lived, according to a report by Weitzman.
Spec’s was founded in Houston in 1962 and now has more than 175 stores across Texas.