When it debuted, in 1988, Fashion Mall, Plantation, Fla., was your typical anchor-driven retail leviathan. When it closed, in 2006, Fashion Mall was typical of huge shopping centers' fall from grace with many customers. Its prospects for resurrection, though, brightened last year, when Encore Capital Management acquired the property and announced plans to spend $300 million to turn it into Plantation’s new town square, dubbed 321 North.
TOP 90 RETAIL ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. CallisonRTKL $205,964,000
2. Gensler $129,680,000
3. GreenbergFarrow $49,719,540
4. MG2 $45,652,293
5. Stantec $39,933,013
6. FRCH Design Worldwide $38,017,500
7. WD Partners $38,000,000
8. MBH Architects $28,126,062
9. NORR $20,326,054
10. P+R Architects $20,000,000
TOP 80 RETAIL CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. VCC $574,787,663
2. PCL Construction Enterprises $556,581,503
3. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The $553,062,362
4. Shawmut Design and Construction $349,000,000
5. EMJ Corp. $287,137,603
6. Hoar Construction $235,377,000
7. dck worldwide $204,462,000
8. Turner Construction Co. $195,934,217
9. Beck Group, The $185,064,042
10. W.E. O’Neil Construction Co. $174,093,120
TOP 50 RETAIL ENGINEERING FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. Jacobs $167,960,000
2. Henderson Engineers $50,149,210
3. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff $33,622,000
4. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates $21,580,000
5. Core States Group $13,874,811
6. KLH Engineers $9,139,313
7. Wallace Engineering $8,200,000
8. Arup $7,105,331
9. Shive-Hattery $6,168,437
10. Highland Associates $5,900,000
Encore will bulldoze most of the mall, leave a nearby hotel and parking garage standing, and construct a 100,000-sf office tower, two apartment buildings totaling 700 units, and 73,000 sf of new retail space.
In its latest Retail Investment Forecast, Marcus & Millichap singles out the enhanced value of malls that can be repositioned as “lifestyle centers.” For instance, A/E firm NORR is working on a 300,000-sf project in Detroit that will include 25,000 sf of retail, fast-casual restaurants, a hotel, and apartments, says NORR VP Anthony Ricciuti, RA, OAA, NCARB.
Developers see malls as “part of a cocktail that creates a destination,” says Matt Billerbeck, AIA, SVP in CallisonRTKL’s Seattle office. His firm’s “Mall of the Future” report describes successful malls as walkable, transit accessible, anchored by food and experience, mixed use in nature, and connected to shoppers via smartphone and Internet-of-Things technology.
Successful retail is “more engaged with life on the street,” says Susanne Pini, HDR’s Director of Retail and Mixed-Use Practice. She points to the 864,000-sf, $200 million Woologong Central shopping center, 55 miles south of Sydney, Australia. Since its opening in 2014, 34 bars and restaurants have sprouted around it.
TECHNOLOGY: the ENEMY becomes the ENABLER
The National Retail Federation estimates total retail sales will increase 3.1% in 2016 over last year. But bricks-and-mortar dealers continue to struggle, as evinced by bankruptcies (Sports Authority, Aeropostale) and bleak earnings reports (Macy’s, Nordstrom, Target). Online sales, now 7.7% of the total, could hit 11% by 2018, predicts Forrester Research.
But dealers that once saw the Internet as a threat are finding ways to use technology. NORR’s Ricciuti says the Eastern Market in the Delta terminal at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport is installing a “virtual maitre d,” an interactive hologram that will provide travelers with information and directions.
“Technology and mobility have created a new paradigm, in which stores and online shopping represent a single strategy to reach customers,” says Margaux Jaffa, VP, VOA Associates. Online dealers Amazon, Warby Parker, and Birchbox are opening stores, following Apple’s wildly successful example.
“It’s all about the experience,” says Jim Scarpone, Director of Business Development, Shawmut Design + Construction. A recent Shawmut project—Ralph Lauren’s three-story, 38,000-sf Polo flagship store in New York—is piloting RFID-enabled fitting rooms and touch-screen mirrors that sync with the store’s inventory and point-of-sale systems.
The mirrors, devised by Oak Labs, read bar codes on clothing tags. Numbers pop up on the mirror and shoppers can call up item details, and try different colors and styles. Requests for help are delivered via iPad to an associate, who can send a text that appears on the mirror with his or her name and photo.
The Oak Interactive Fitting Rooms can also provide dealers with tons of customer and inventory management data.
Shawmut just completed work on Cadillac House, in New York’s SoHo district. The 12,000-sf auto dealership and showroom opened June 2. It has an incubator space for designers, a coffee bar, a runway, and an art gallery. “It’s not just about selling cars,” says Scarpone, “it’s about selling the brand.”
RETURN TO THE GIANTS 300 LANDING PAGE
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Jan 19, 2024
How to strengthen office design as employees return to work
Adam James, AIA, Senior Architect, Design Collaborative, shares office design tips for the increasingly dynamic workplace.
Modular Building | Jan 19, 2024
Building with shipping containers not as eco-friendly as it seems
With millions of shipping containers lying empty at ports around the world, it may seem like repurposing them to construct buildings would be a clear environmental winner. The reality of building with shipping containers is complicated, though, and in many cases isn’t a net-positive for the environment, critics charge, according to a report by NPR's Chloe Veltman.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 18, 2024
Coca-Cola packaging warehouse transformed into mixed-use complex
The 250,000-sf structure is located along a now defunct railroad line that forms the footprint for the city’s multi-phase Beltline pedestrian/bike path that will eventually loop around the city.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 17, 2024
Waterproofing deep foundations for new construction
This continuing education course, by Walter P Moore's Amos Chan, P.E., BECxP, CxA+BE, covers design considerations for below-grade waterproofing for new construction, the types of below-grade systems available, and specific concerns associated with waterproofing deep foundations.
Sponsored | Performing Arts Centers | Jan 17, 2024
Performance-based facilities for performing arts boost the bottom line
A look at design trends for “budget-wise” performing arts facilities reveals ways in which well-planned and well-built facilities help performers and audiences get the most out of the arts. This continuing education course is worth 1.0 AIA learning unit.
Giants 400 | Jan 15, 2024
Top 130 Hospital Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
HKS, HDR, Stantec, CannonDesign, and Page Southerland Page top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Airports | Jan 15, 2024
How to keep airports functional during construction
Gensler's aviation experts share new ideas about how to make the airport construction process better moving forward.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 12, 2024
Office-to-residential conversions put pressure on curbside management and parking
With many office and commercial buildings being converted to residential use, two important issues—curbside management and parking—are sometimes not given their due attention. Cities need to assess how vehicle storage, bike and bus lanes, and drop-off zones in front of buildings may need to change because of office-to-residential conversions.
MFPRO+ News | Jan 12, 2024
As demand rises for EV chargers at multifamily housing properties, options and incentives multiply
As electric vehicle sales continue to increase, more renters are looking for apartments that offer charging options.
Student Housing | Jan 12, 2024
UC Berkeley uses shipping containers to block protestors of student housing project
The University of California at Berkeley took the drastic step of erecting a wall of shipping containers to keep protestors out of a site of a planned student housing complex. The $312 million project would provide badly needed housing at the site of People’s Park.
