Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/231459
SHOPPING CENTERS TODAY C E N T E R S T A G E +1 646 728 3800 Fax: +1 732 694 1730 www.icsc.org Editor in Chief eDMUnD ManDer +1 646 728 3487 Victorian splendor EDIT O R IA L arcade Providence bills itself as america's oldest mall Managing Editor Brannon BoSWeLL +1 646 728 3488 By Ian Ritter Copy Editor VaLerie DaViD Art Director John D. LeWiS Contributing Editors MaDhUSMiTa Bora nicKY goDDing JoeL grooVer MaTT hUDginS BeTh MaTTSon-Teig STeVe M c LinDen anna roBaTon ian riTTer BenneTT VoYLeS ADVER aMie LeiBoViTZ +1 773 360 1179 aleibovitz@icsc.org SUZanne TangUaY +1 646 728 3475 stanguay@icsc.org SaLLY STePhenSon +1 847 835 1617 sstephenson@icsc.org Production Coordinator DaViD STacKhoUSe +1 646 728 3482 dstackhouse@icsc.org ICS C O FFIC E R S Chairman DaViD J. LarUe President and CEO MichaeL P. KercheVaL Vice Presidents VincenT corno aDaM W. iFShin MarTin a. MaYer John MorriSon, cDP BrUce PoMeroY, cDP MarcUS WiLD Secretary-Treasurer KenneTh a. M c inTYre Jr. For article reprints, call (866) 879-9144 or contact sales@fostereprints.com. SCT (ISSN 0885-9841) is published monthly. VOLUME 35, ISSUE 1 © 2014, International Council of Shopping Centers, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099; phone, +1 (646) 728 3800; fax, +1 732 694 1730. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offces. Subscriptions $70 per year; Canada and other foreign $99. Single-copy price $20 (May issue $30). For subscription information call +1 727 784 2000. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shopping Centers Today, Yizeth Vergara, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099. Publications mail agreement No. 41482022, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6. T he greaT VicTorian-era iron-and-glass shopping arcades are understandably associated with the great cities of europe — London, Milan, Paris and St. Petersburg all have them. and yet an american need travel no farther than Providence, r.i., to see a beautiful example. There, a glass-roofed shopping passage built in 1828 as the Westminster arcade and claiming to be the oldest enclosed mall in the U.S. was rebranded in 2008 as The arcade Providence. Following a $7 million restoration by its new owner, Providence-based development firm granoff associates, the property reopened last fall. The building had housed a three-level retail environment that was not really working; it was hard to compel shoppers to visit the top two floors, which resulted in high vacancy rates up there. evan granoff, who heads granoff associates, had a vision that involved residential space on the second and third levels and retail on the ground floor. he acquired the property, which had fallen into a blighted condition, five years ago from Johnson & Wales University, for an amount he declines to disclose. "it's one of the most significant buildings in rhode island, because it's been a public building for so long that everyone has an arcade memory," he said. arcade Providence is surrounded by what granoff calls a "knowledge-based design community" in close proximity to Johnson & Wales, the rhode island School of Design and Brown University. granoff worked with local architecture firm northeast collaborative associates to stabilize the interior and exterior masonry walls and restore the outward-facing windows, which had been bricked over. his vision went beyond the merely architectural, however. he felt sure that, with just 29,000 square feet of leasable area over the three floors, the way to ensure NCA/ Be N J ACoBseN PhotogrA Phy. Copy Chief DaViD S. orTiZ the project's financial viability was to avoid national chains and place what he calls "micro retailers," most of them measuring about 500 square feet, on the first level. on the second and third levels, granoff built "micro lofts" — mainly studio apartments measuring roughly 400 square feet and renting for about $550 per month. These designs were featured in a Museum of the city of new York exhibit last year called "Making room: new Models for housing new Yorkers," thanks to their trendsetting appeal, according to published reports. Though granoff passed over national retailers in part because he perceived residents were more interested in local businesses, he says the mix of fashion and food tenants will probably draw shoppers from around the region. among the 17 food and retail tenants are new harvest coffee & Spirits, a café and bourbon bar; nude, a fashion store carrying women's apparel by six local designers; rogue island Local Kitchen & Bar, which serves locally sourced food; and royal Male, a Britishthemed, high-end clothiers shop. Bill greene, a partner at hayes & Sherry real estate Services, part of the cushman & Wakefield network, says he initially wanted granoff to include national tenants, but he now concedes that granoff's strategy is working. "if you can create an economic model that doesn't impact the beauty of the structure, and it works, that's a good thing." SCT J an ua ry 20 14 / SC T 5