While many elements of the retail sector may be hunkering down and riding out the economic downturn, in Clifton Park DCG Development is priming for the eventual recovery of the retail sector and embarking on a major construction project at Clifton Park Center.
Wrecking machines tore into the former Steinbach’s store, located off of Northway Exit 8, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, beginning the process of replacing the massive structure with a string of smaller businesses.
In today’s economy, creating a space for many smaller stores makes more sense than trying to attract a big tenant, said DCG development Vice President of Leasing Rick Eaglestone.
Originally we were looking at doing one big box user, we just haven’t been successful in leasing it as one user, he said. `Some of your big box stores are just having a tough timeit’s a logical move to go smaller.`
The developer thinks that 15 stores will eventually inhabit the new 55,000-square-foot building, though that number is up in the air. So far, DCG has confirmed that a Chipotle Mexican Grill will make a home in the corner of the shopping center and that a Metro Mattress branch has also signed on.
A Chipotle location opened earlier this year in Wilton to much fanfare.
DCG is calling the expansion Phase 3 of their plans to transform Clifton Park Center. The new string of stores will be `direct access,` or what some would call a strip mall format, meaning patrons will be able to park in front of a shop instead of entering an enclosed mall.
In 2006, when DCG acquired Clifton Park Center, it demolished nearly 200,000 square feet of mall roof to create room for 30 `direct access` stores. The shopping center is still anchored by a traditional interior mall that is home to a Regal Cinema.
The setup is preferred by shops and shoppers alike, said Clifton Park Center General Manager Susan Keegan.
`It’s convenient and comfortable for people, they can just pull right up to where they need to go,` she said.
Setting the boundary of the new string of stores back will along eateries to provide sidewalk cafes, as well.
With just a few tenants signed on and locations still available in existing Clifton Park Center spaces, some might imagine DCG’s expansion as highly optimistic. Keegan agreed her company’s actions defy current retail industry standards, but said Clifton Park is the place to make those changes.
`We have a lot of hope and we know the economy will turn around,` she said. `We know that Clifton Park Center is really a gold mine, and we owe it to our community to give them the shopping they want.`
With fewer construction projects to be had, many developers are also finding that building costs are a lot lower than in years past.
`I think you’re at a point where you have to do something,` said Eaglestone. `If there’s a time to be doing something, now’s the time to do it.`
There is no hard timetable telling when the new project will be completed, though Keegan said that Chipotle is expected to be in business sometime in the fall.
DCG is also moving forward with plans to bring a five-story hotel to the center. Eaglestone declined to name the franchise, but predicted it will make an announcement in the near future and that the project could be moving into the next stages in early 2010.“