Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 / S C T 73 tenant lineup. Gruel, known for his Slapfish restaurant chain and other venues in Southern California, is curating two of the food concepts: Two Birds will offer Gruel's take on classic grilled and fried chicken, while Butterleaf, a plant-based con- cept, will focus on a menu that includes kimchi, flash-seared vegetables, and sweet-potato-mushroom burgers. Gruel is also operating a large cocktail bar in the center of the food hall. Gruel and Miller hand-selected the others. Chef Hop Phan, known for his local food trucks, will, like Gruel, curate two concepts: His Dos Chinos will offer Viet- namese and Mexican fusion, and Megadon will serve up a mix of Latin, Asian, Mexican and Hawaiian. Rounding out the food offerings are Gyro King (Mediterra- nean fare), Portside (fresh seafood), Sweet Comforts (desserts) and The Sandwich So- ciety (artisan sandwiches). Two restaurants anchor the ends of Trade Marketplace: Ootoro Sushi, a local favorite that now has two sites, including this one at Trade; and Krisp Fresh Living, which serves organic juices, acai bowls and illy coffee. Lincoln and Alcion spent some $5 million on renovating the food hall. The roof was torn off the former food court to create an open-air, Southern Califor- nia–style dining experience. The building now offers indoor-outdoor seating in a communal dining area, including a fire pit and natural lighting. New landscaping was installed, including succulents and ir- rigated walls covered with vertical plants. All this is quite a transformation from the center's previous life. "We saw an opportunity to really take a little bit of a risk and redevelop this center to be something that is dynamic and unique, and, obviously, [to] fill the void in Irvine and, frankly, in Orange County," said Miller. The cen- ter was "stuck in the 1980s," in his words, and had not been properly merchandized or maintained. "From a big picture perspective, there is a whole different side of Irvine that is being developed right now," Miller said. "Irvine is really see- ing a lot of residential redevelopment in the immediate area, but there's still a lack of amenities, and you have to drive 10 miles or more to go to the cool spots. We're trying to deliver a unique experience in the heart of Irvine." Trade is the Lincoln-Alcion partnership's first major project in Orange County and its sixth nationally. Flight, which will be the first purpose-built, ground-up creative office campus in Orange County, is a Lincoln-Alcion venture slated to break ground in early 2017 at Tustin Legacy. "When we acquired this property, we saw an opportunity to revitalize and transform an underperforming retail center in an A-plus location into a culinary-focused and experi- ence-rich marketplace that will serve the needs of the hun- dreds of thousands of workers and residents in the area," said Mark Potter, co-founding partner of Alcion Ventures. "Retail today is all about food and experience." For their part, Trade's tenants were easily sold on the captive daytime lunch crowd. "For local office workers, there are a limited number of places to go for lunch where you can get a unique experience," said Miller. "That's nothing against Irvine; that's just the way it's been developed over time. The daytime population will be there, and the key is going to be delivering a unique enough product to get people to traffic the center at nights and weekends, which it's never had before." Building that new customer base starts with marketing the tenants as a singular community, Miller says. "All of these guys respect each other, and it's really going to be a team effort to make eight different restaurants into one team and then gener- ate the traffic to the site that would support all the businesses around the clock to make this food hall a success," he said. Focusing on the project's financial success based on a new retail concept for the area meant structuring the lease terms creatively. "It was a balancing act," said Miller. "We knew the rents we would have to get to obviously get a return on cost, which is our internal investment metric, but you also have to gut-check those. It's not just if they will agree to pay it, but is it sustainable; we didn't push the asking rents too far, and we've got a percentage rent structure in place that rewards everyone for doing well." n Eight chef-driven tenants have signed on at the 9,000-square-foot Trade Hall, an anchor at Lincoln Properties' Trade Marketplace, in Irvine, Calif.