Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
THE COMMON AREA projects under way and others in the pipeline. Bucksbaum Retail Prop- erties is developing two retail-residential projects in Chicago: The Maxwell, in the South Loop area, and New City, in the Lin- coln Park neighborhood. Bucksbaum is building a retail-residential-office project in Cincinnati in partnership with devel- oper Yaromir Steiner, principal of Steiner & As- sociates. "I've always been inter- ested in urban-oriented retail, even though I come from a 100 percent suburban background," said Bucks- baum, referring to his mall development experience. Working on projects in his home city is especially gratify- ing, he says. The Maxwell, with 190,000 square feet of retail and 430 residential units, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013. The partner in that project is The Bond Cos., an investment and real estate advisory firm with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. New City, sched- uled to open in the fall of the year following, will offer 370,000 square feet of retail plus an 80,000-square-foot Mariano's Fresh Market gourmet supermarket and a 16-story apartment tower. Chicago development firm Structured Development 38 SCT / MAY 2012 THE RETAIL BUS TOUR'S ALL- DAY TOURS COST $99 A HEAD. is partner on that project. Bucksbaum's investment and retail connections along with a $31 million loan from JPMorgan Chase has gotten the stalled project moving again, with construction due to start later this year. Ohio's Liberty Town Center, located between Dayton and Cincinnati, will have 460,000 square feet of shops, three department stores, 150 apartments and 10,000 square feet of office space, designed along the lines of Steiner's Easton Town Center, in Columbus. "He is the lead in terms of the design, the layout, what I'll call the vision behind the project," Bucksbaum said. Bucksbaum says he is exhilarated not just to be developing again, but also to be directly involved down to the last details in the foundation of a new firm and its projects. Some former General Growth col- leagues have joined him in the new venture. His direc- tor of construction is Tim Gardels, a first vice president of construction and design at General Growth for three decades. Bob Michaels, General Growth's former president, is helping lease the New City project as a consultant. Bucksbaum Retail Proper- ties is a member of ICSC and will be doing business at RE- Con this month in Las Vegas. Bus tours offer front- row seat of properties The Retail Bus Tour is now boarding. No, these are not charter coaches for shoppers — unless one happens to be shopping for commercial space. Under the tagline "Thinking Outside the Of- fice," these whirlwind tours of up to 40 shopping centers give industry insiders the type of close-up-and-personal view of a shopping center that is impossible to acquire from mere site plans, fliers and e-mails. Co-founders Gary Broidis (a former Wall Street financial analyst and also co-founder of Net Prop- erties Corp. and Atlantic Commercial Group) and Larry Brooks (a retail leas- ing specialist) say such tours offer concentrated access to deal makers, tenants and trade areas that can lead to multiple deals. The all-day, multi-bus tours cost $99 per head and accommodate up to 150 participants. "You get all the rents, incentives and rede- velopment plans right from the horse's mouth," Broidis said. "It's very effective." Par- ticipants get a tour book de- tailing the shopping centers' marketing and demograph- ics data, and a backpack stuffed with giveaways, plus two meals and a networking reception. The Retail Bus Tour operates in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and is working on agreements elsewhere. SCT