Quote:
Originally Posted by wong21fr
I think that there has been a fundamental shift in the last 3-4 years in how Forest City is developing retail in Stapleton. They've gone from being developer/owner to selling the land and letting local companies take over the process. Eastbridge was developed by a local company (and leased to nothing but local companies). The retail in Conservatory Green is similar with a mix of local stores and national chains (though most are first to market concepts). They have kept control over Northfield, but everything else has been developed locally. Which keeps my hopes up for a beer garden north of I-70 as Forest City seems to have adjusted their development process that was so inflexible that it led to the development of the Stanley.
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This is interesting too. I actually wasn't aware that Conservatory Green had very much retail.
On another note, one of the things that I have always admired about Northfield is the adaptability of its design. Once the "newness" wears off (as it inevitably always does in mall-like destination retail centers), I could easily see how the back-side of the various blocks, and potentially even some of the surface parking further out could be developed without a need to scrape the entire retail center - which was always the inherent problem with traditional style malls. They have even installed a quasi-urban street grid through the parking lots, which provides the "structure" for this to be able to happen someday.
And this also relates back to my last comment about national retailers vs. local ones. I could see a future where some of the national retailers - including the big box stores - "move on" to newer developments, and could be replaced with local concepts that don't require the same kind of regional draw for customers, as well as the associated parking demands. The parking could be replaced with higher-density residences, and the stores with more everyday kind of retail (like dry cleaners, convenience stores, barber shops, etc.) to serve those residents.