Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/739734
on Michigan Avenue, one of the Mag Mile's larger retail venues, is ex- panding. Macerich, which owns the property, recently acquired the 441 N. Wabash Ave., site of the Lake- shore Athletic Club, directly south. Macerich also owns an office build- ing directly to the east, and its plan is to expand retail to both sites and create a 775,000-square-foot retail property. Recent openings in Mac- erich's Mag Mile holdings include Doc B's Fresh Kitchen, Neiman Marcus Last Call and the rapidly ex- panding Shake Shack. At the Wrigley Building, on North Michigan, the plaza is being trans- formed into a 75,000-square foot re- tail property. Walgreens took 27,800 tail property. Walgreens took 27,800 square feet there last year, relocating from nearby. Other tenants include Peet's Coffee & Tea and a two-level Ghirardelli that supplements the chocolatier's Mag Mile store that opened near the Chicago Water Tower decades ago. Other retailers new to the Mag Mile include the sizable Dylan's Candy Bar (13,000 square feet), MAC Candy Bar (13,000 square feet), MAC Cosmetics, True Religion and Under Armour. Sephora opened in late Au- gust, taking some 10,000 square feet at 605 N. Michigan Ave. S C T 52 S C T / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 J O H N E X - O F F I C I O P R E S I D E N T A N D C E O O F T H E M A G N I F I C E N T M I L E A S S O C I A T I O N S I T E S & C I T I E S "I 'm going to Kansas City; Kansas City, here I come," sang Wilbert Harrison in his late-1950s rhythm-and- blues classic. Now a slew of stores and eateries are doing likewise, opening units all across the Kansas City, Mo., metro area. Investors are coming in too, though most are looking at existing cen- ters for redevelopment, as the city seems to be experiencing a dearth of new retail development. The metro's current retail inventory approaches 60 million square feet, with a mere 164,000 square feet of new con- struction under way, according to Brent Morris, a Kansas City–based associate vice president at Cushman & Wake- field. But redevelopment is rampant, as evidenced by an active mix of both local and outside developers, including ma- jor players investing in the area's biggest and best-known properties. The largest deal this year was the acquisition of the famed Country Club Plaza by Taubman Centers and Macerich for a reported $660 million. This is considered the first shopping center in the country designed to accommodate automobile traffic. "The Plaza has the potential to at- tract newer, higher-end tenants, and the new ownership will do that," said Owen Buckley, president of Kansas City's Lane4 Property Group. The firm had a hand in redeveloping several retail properties in the Kansas City area, nota- RISING STAR Retailers, developers are headed to Kansas City, Mo. By Steve Bergsman MARKET PROFILE C O U N T R Y C L U B P L A Z A