Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/704472
62 S C T / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 Q How is the overall econ- omy holding up in St. Augustine? Is the market on par with the rest of Florida and the U.S.? A The city bills itself as the nation's longest continu- ously occupied European settlement. It recently cele- brated its 450th anniversary. The trade area population totals 80,000 people, but add a couple million tourists, and that will have an impact on the retail market. A half- dozen new hotels are going up. The northern part of our county is an extremely popu- lar bedroom community to Jacksonville, which drives a lot of the housing growth of St. Johns County. Q How is the city's retail inventory holding up? Which areas are most attrac- tive to growing retailers? A St. Augustine has an older mall that is an- chored by JCPenney and Belk. The movie theater departed to a freestanding location. The rest of the re- tail in the commercial core is freestanding. The down- town historic area gener- ally stays well occupied and boasts high rents, in the $50-to-$70-per-square-foot range. The chains would like to be there, but with so little availability when some- thing comes available, it gets snapped up quickly. Having said that, Ben Jerry's will be opening a store in down- town St. Augustine. Q Are retailers finding success in downtown locations? A There is a tremendous amount of foot traffic. St. Augustine is well known for its festivals, and those go year-round. A very strong music scene — the amphi- theater routinely sells out. Plus, with a strong contin- gent of restaurants down- town, there is foodie interest. Q How are the area's other regional malls holding up? A There are two large out- let malls west of town, along the interstate. Those are 300,000 square feet each. A shopping center near there was built a couple of years back, and it is full. There is opportunity for new development. Q What is the development scene like? Any new centers being built? A There is one under con- struction that is about 25,000 square feet that will bring in new retailers. The anchor tenant will be a local health food store: Diane's Q Where do the locally b a s e d c o n s u m e r s shop? A The primary commercial node is south of down- town at the intersection of U.S. 1 and state Route 312. This is where most retailers who come to St. Augustine want to be. There is a new Lowe's under construction. That company purchased an old hospital and tore it down. A new addition on an existing shopping cen- ter anchored by Winn-Dixie attracted several new ten- a n t s t o t o w n , i n c l u d i n g M e t r o D i n e r , 1 s t P l a c e Sports and Jimmy John's. Q What is the vacancy rate for retail? A There's very little va- c a n c y . I n t h e m a i n shopping areas, we are in the single-digit vacancy rates. My guess is about a 5 percent vacancy rate for the entire city and not a lot of room to build where the retailers want to be. A new mattress store came to town and the developer paid $44 a square foot for a parcel of land to erect a freestanding building. The next stage for develop- ment will be for someone to locate further west of that intersection. S C T There's plenty new in one of America's oldest cities, says T. Brendan Kemp, of Florida's Kemp Commercial Realty INSIDE ST. AUGUSTINE S I T E S & C I T I E S