Tnekster

Large Arlington retail project wins approval



600,000-square-foot shopping center to break ground in fall


10:26 PM CST on Wednesday, March 23, 2005

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

A new $100 million Arlington shopping center will contain a combination of big-box and specialty retail stores.

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<!-- Image ends here -->Dallas-based Retail Connection LP said Wednesday that it has received final approval for the 75-acre project to be built at the northeast corner of Interstate 20 and Matlock Road.

Construction on the Arlington Highlands Shopping Center is set to begin this fall, the developers said, and the first phase will have about 600,000 square feet of space.

The developers received zoning for the project from the Arlington City Council on Tuesday night.

No retail tenants have been named, but builders say the retail complex will have big-box tenants, specialty stores and restaurants in a "park-like, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere."

"We are going to want to wait a couple of months to announce the tenants," said David C. Wilson, who heads development for the Retail Connection. "We are in lease negotiations with numerous tenants."

Good Fulton & Farrell is the architect for the shopping center, which is just east of the Parks at Arlington regional shopping mall.

The Retail Connection is doing the project with the landowners, who are family members of the late television executive Curtis Mathes.

E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

St-T

I thought the Cowboys promised this type of developement AROUND the stadium... haha

gc

I am very interested to see how this develops.

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Tnekster

I work over here by the other stadium that they promised all this development around. All I can tell you is that it sucks, it would be so great to have this nice urban setting at lunch time to run over and and eat, chill and watch some TV but instead we are stuck with an endless line of chains. They promise one thing and deliver nothing. I can't imagine the Cowboys being able to make it happen either.

Kelley USA

Can South Arlington handle any more traffic? It's already a whip as it is!!! Tnekster- I work in the Arlington area too... I know exactly what you mean. Without Lincoln Square- it would be more miserable than it already is.

CityLove

Hey, that's RIGHT by my parents' house. Cool. I'm sure I'll be over there shortly after it's built, as I go see the folks almost every Sunday. Maybe I can even spy on progress as it goes down.

TG2

rantanamo

How underserved with retail is Arlington? It never seemed as bad as Garland, but still didn't seem like enough for a city of its size. As hard as retail is to land in older suburbs on older freeways especially, I'm surprised they wouldn't fight for this to be at the Cowboys site, which would be just as close to a major freeway.

CityLove

Just try going down Cooper Street on a Saturday and you'll see for yourself. But be warned...you'll be taking your life into your own hands. Don't say I didn't warn you....


TG2

Tnekster

It tends to be kind of an odd city.......IMO. I was reading a story this week about TXDOT wanting to make South Cooper a divided six lane road instead of the 7 lane nightmare it is today. The Arlington chamber opposes the change which I am not sure I understand. If you have ever tried to get around on south Cooper.....again...be warned.

rantanamo

ok? what does that mean? I was asking if Arlington is underserved with retail.

Tnekster

It depends on what kind of retail you are talking about. I think the stores they are hoping to attract include Crate & Barrel, World Market and maybe a Central Market. With the recent passage of wine sales in Arlington it would make the city more attractive to the latter two.

Nice location from my perspective because it would be a quick trip across I-20 to get to Matlock.

drumguy8800

Arlington is NOT underserved with retail. From a little north of Green Oaks Blvd (where fm-157 is mansfield rd about a block south of I-20) up to I-20 is retail, then FM-157 becomes Cooper and there's the Parks Mall plus tons of other shopping centers as seen in this this aerial.. and on up to Mayfield, its pretty packed with retail. North of that it thins out slightly.. but yes, South Cooper and north Mansfield is a nightmare. It's like. I don't even know. Belt Line in Addison + a mall.

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rantanamo

So Arlington is ~400,000 people with less retail than Plano?

drumguy8800

You're exhausting. Arlington isn't an independent city. It's part of a patchwork of municipalities. There is retail in other places. People have cars. They drive. I'm not quite sure what you're getting at.

Numbers.

NCTCOG 2005 Projections.

arlington.
population: 364,039
employment: 155,953

plano.
population: 245,261
employment: 115,048

Who knows what percentage of Arlington's employment is in the retail corridor.

I also don't know where you got that Arlington has 'less retail than Plano'... nobody mentioned that.

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rantanamo

nevermind, I apologize for being too exhausting.

gc

^ I'd say that North Arlington is underserved, but South AgTown is not. For whatever reason, Six Flags Mall died an unfortunate death.

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CityLove

Not to add fuel to the *exhausting* fire, but is it possible that the area is a bit underserved, due to the fact that South Arlington also supports the rapidly growing bedroom community of Mansfield? I don't have numbers to quote, and I may be completely off-base, but I do know that most of Mansfield goes to Arlington to shop, and Mansfield is growing by leaps and bounds.

Just a thought...

TG2

rantanamo

^thank you.

ihavebeenseen

http://www.bizjournals.com/industri...y1.html?f=et177

Swede deal: IKEA eyes new site

Insiders say Swedish furniture co. considering Arlington for second Metroplex store
Steve McLinden and David Giddens
Correspondent and Staff Writer

Brokers are reeling in the tenant roster for the 80-acre Arlington Highlands "lifestyle center" planned along Interstate 20 in south Arlington, with at least a couple of dozen signed leases and letters of intent.

The biggest catch, Dallas-Fort Worth's second IKEA store, is still apparently on the hook.
IKEA, the world's leading home furnishings retailer, is in talks to take a 265,000-square-foot anchor space at the project, say several sources familiar with the negotiations.

IKEA's Frisco store, its second in Texas, is slated to open Aug. 3. Houston has had an IKEA store since 1992.

Tom Brownell, vice president of retail and land development for Arlington-based Dunn Commercial L.P., said although a deal hasn't been sealed for IKEA, there are very few options in the area that can accommodate the store's huge footprint.

"I've been told by the principals at the Highlands that IKEA's signing of a contract is a couple of months away, but they feel it's inevitable," Brownell said.

IKEA officials, however, deny any plans for a second Metroplex store at this point. Doug Greenholz, the company's real estate manager for the Western region, said IKEA's sole local focus is on opening its Frisco store.

"In the long term, would we view having a second Metroplex store? Yes, absolutely," he said. "We are very optimistic about the market."

Greenholz declined to comment on the Arlington Highlands project, but said the company is constantly in discussions with developers all over the country.

"Those discussions don't keep cities and developers from putting our footprints on deals," he said. "We are expanding at a measured pace in North America, and it is premature for us to plan a second store in the Metroplex, although we are very optimistic that some day it will happen."

The Retail Connection and Woodmont Cos. officials declined comment on the deal. Woodmont represents several tenants that have signed at the Highlands. The family of John Mathes, a senior vice president at The Retail Connection, owns the land. The Dallas-based Retail Connection also is leasing agent for the open-air center, which is slated for the northeast quadrant of Interstate 20 and Matlock Road.

Should IKEA land at the center, it would likely draw from a 25-mile to 50-mile radius and probably not cannibalize sales from the Frisco store at the opposite end of the Metroplex, said Patrice Duker, spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers Convention in Las Vegas this week.
IKEA has multi-store operations in other U.S. metropolitan markets, including four in the greater Los Angeles area, and two each in the San Francisco and Philadelphia area. IKEA has previously said the North Texas population is large enough to support as many as three stores.

IKEA is a good fit for the new breed of lifestyle centers because it is freestanding, has access to plenty of parking and complements the other types of home-decor and home-organizing tenants that patronize them, Duker said.

The company casts itself as a purveyor of well-designed, functional and affordable furniture. The affordability factor stems from the company's practice of having customers assemble their own purchases. After viewing models in the stores' large showrooms, buyers pick up their selections, which are packed flat to make them easily transportable, at an adjacent self-service warehouse and assemble them at home.

Founded in 1943 in a small Swedish farming town, IKEA adopted its current business model with its first large store in Stockholm in 1965, and first moved into the American market in 1985.

IKEA's sales hit $12.8 billion in 2004, with about 66% of its business coming from European markets, with North America accounting for 16%. The company employs about 84,000 workers in 44 countries.

Two phases planned

Several other deals are still in the works for Arlington Highlands, which should break ground by Aug. 1, said Mathes. It will be built in two phases; the first 600,000 square feet and the second, 300,000 square feet, he said.

About two dozen prominent national tenants, including Arlington's first Borders Books store, Conn's, Bed Bath & Beyond and wine-seller World Market, are confirmed for the 900,000-square-foot Arlington center, said officials for The Retail Connection.

Mathes said the center will feature several open areas, including a linear greenbelt with a stream and walkways, "and it will be a true legacy for Arlington."

Also penciled in for the development are a Larry North fitness club, Petsmart, Z Gallerie, Storehouse, Staples, Marshalls, Marshalls Home, Thomasville, Broyhill, Ethan Allen, Staples, Golf Galaxy, Chico's, Banana Republic, The Children's Place, Container Store, and about a half dozen restaurants. They will join an already announced movie theater.

Container Store CEO Kip Tindell said the Coppell-based chain "is really excited about returning to
Arlington." There's been a void in that market since its north Arlington location at Lincoln Square moved to Southlake several years ago and was not immediately replaced, he said.
Open-air lifestyle centers like Arlington Highlands were all the rage at this week's International Council of Shopping Centers Convention in Las Vegas, attended by a record 40,300 industry professionals. Only a handful of conventional enclosed malls will be built in 2005 and 2006, said Duker, the ICSC spokeswoman.

"We are seeing a lot of creative new designs in the open-air format this year," she said.

Jennifer Franks, a leasing agent for Fort Worth-based Woodmont, which represents Conn's and other tenants at Arlington Highlands, said the lifestyle project takes advantage of the synergy of the neighboring Parks at Arlington mall area, but is easier to access.

"Matlock Road is far less congested than South Cooper Street," she said. "But the (two) retail clusters should still feed off one another nicely." Parks mall officials have said they welcome the neighboring project.

Tnekster

Interesting story and I hope Ikea builds there. They have the best chocolate in the world and it would only be a 10 minute drive from home. But the Banana Republic store is curious, are they planning on closing the Parks location? From reading the list of retailers above this project sounds like a step up.

tamtagon

Doesnt seem to help the prospects of a sustainable non-event specific development anchored by stadium and theme park crowds.

SoCal kid n Dallas

I sure hope IKEA doesn't forget about us people in little ol' Dallas County??

rantanamo

very interesting question. Why wouldn't they build in the most populous county? Maybe a percieved lack of middle class in the county?

noelamador

^ WOW, that's an impressive lineup of stores for southern Arlington

Kelley USA

What will this do to the already terrible traffic?

freewaytincan

I sure hope they do.

SoCal kid n Dallas

Urban, you strike me as a very bitter person. For whatever reason, I bet half the things you come into contact on a daily basis either suck or are just plain stupid in your opinion.

Witty venom to follow, I'm sure........

freewaytincan

Hardly. It's simply a bad product. They're just short of being the Wal-Mart of furniture (at worst).

Tnekster

I think it comes down to the size of the footprint they need for one store plus the demographics and surrounding retail. If this region can support three Ikea stores then having one in the south, along I-20 and near existing retail makes sense.

Tnekster

I disagree, Ikea is no Wal-Mart. The stores are fun to shop and offer a product for people that can't necessarily afford to shop at Ethen Allen, Storehouse or Thomasville.

Kelley USA

I had a dream last night that we were discussing Wal Mart opening a 2nd Metroplex store instead of Ikea... It was beautiful!

Tnekster

From the June 10, 2005 print edition
It's 'curtain up' for Arlington movie-eatery
Studio Movie Grill set to open third location
David Giddens
Staff Writer
For Brian Schultz, the show must go on -- to Arlington. The city will be the third location for the cinema-eatery concept he pioneered locally at Dallas' Granada Theater in the 1990s before opening his multiscreen Studio Movie Grill locations in Addison and Plano in 2000.

Schultz announced nearly two years ago that he was looking for a third location in the western part of the Metroplex for his Studio Movie Grill model, which offers patrons a full grill menu and bar, oversized leather chairs, tables and first-run movies.

In May, he signed a lease agreement with developers of the new Arlington Highlands lifestyle center and will build a 36,100-square-foot, 10-screen Studio Movie Grill as part of the $100 million, 75-acre development just east of The Parks at Arlington mall in the city's Interstate 20 corridor.

The $7 million theater is slated to open in summer 2006 along with the first phase of the development's retail component.

In late 2003, Schultz had planned a third Dallas-Fort Worth location as part of an overall expansion, even signing a letter of intent to lease a 40,000-square-foot facility in the western Metroplex, but that deal eventually fell apart. He said then that his goal was to have 10, 1,200-seat theaters open throughout the state by 2007.

While he hasn't quite abandoned that objective, Schultz says his privately held company's growth will be incremental.

"The Arlington Highlands theater is our first with brand-new construction, where what we'd done before is redevelop an existing building," Schultz said. "Arlington has a perfect demographic for us -- it's the perfect place to be."

He also is seriously eyeing at least two other Texas cities, which he declined to identify. "I think we're being very selective, although we will concentrate on Texas," he said.

Schultz has spent 10 years fine-tuning his version of the cinema-eatery concept, which began picking up steam in 1997 when he successfully badgered a film distributor into giving him a crack at a first-run movie -- "The Water Boy." Up until then, cinema-eateries were the province of second-run and specialty movies. After leaving the Granada in 1999 -- it has now become a live-music venue -- he developed theaters in Plano, then Addison.

"For the past two years we've been focused on rolling this out, which is really kind of simple in that we do film, food and fun, and we run everything based on the customer experience," he said. "There are a lot of branches to this and, before we expand, we want to make sure we get it right."

Studio Movie Grill's ticket prices are typically either the same as or slightly lower than traditional multiplex cinemas, but Schultz said he doesn't believe he competes for the same customer.

Typical customer
"Our typical customer doesn't go to movies more than a couple of times a year, but when they discover us they come every week or every other week," he said. "We're a different experience, and that's how we're able to be a niche in an upper-tier concept. Our customers get spoiled and don't want to go anywhere else."

That "spoiling" Schultz refers to includes a menu with pizzas priced similarly to a Chili's or Humperdinks restaurant, $3 tubs of popcorn and $2 soft drinks with free refills, draft beer at $4 and a full bar with premium liquors.

Although he declined to discuss ticket sales, Schultz previously said his current theaters each average about 300,000 patrons annually.

Daniel Fuller, a broker with The Retail Connection, who is part of the leasing team for the development, said interest was shown by at least two other movie theater operators in building in the Arlington Highlands. However, he said, the leasing team already had some first-hand experience with Studio Movie Grill, having patronized the Addison location on several occasions.

"From the very beginning we wanted an entertainment venue, and we chose Studio Movie Grill based on their record as operators," Fuller said.

Jim Kozak, editor in chief of In Focus magazine, a trade publication for theater owners, said Studio Movie Grill is one of just 18 cinema-eateries around the nation that feature first-run movies.

Nine of those are in Texas, he said, including Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas' five locations, and Movie Tavern locations in Fort Worth and Arlington.

dgiddens@bizjournals.com

gc

^ Cool. I would have liked to see this occur by the ballpark(s) in North Arlington.

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Tnekster

^That would require organization by the city of Arlington and we know that is not going to happen.

Tnekster

Dallas Business Journal - 12:21 PM CST Wednesday
Construction begins on Arlington shopping center

Construction began this week on the $100 million Arlington Highlands Shopping Center in Arlington.

The project will include 910,000 square feet of retail space, making it the largest non-mall retail shopping center in Dallas-Fort Worth once completed.

Several retailers already have committed to the project, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Studio Movie Grill, Gloria's, Fish City Grill, Mi Cocina, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Broyhill, Ulta, PetSmart and others.

"The development takes the form of a unique hybrid center, combining the elements of both a power center, comprised of big-box tenants, with those of a lifestyle center, made up of specialty retailers and restaurants amidst a city park and pedestrian-oriented plaza," said David Wilson, president of Connected Development Services, the development arm of Dallas-based The Retail Connection, the real estate services and investment firm behind the project.

The property, north of Interstate 20 and east of Matlock Road, ultimately will accommodate more than 75 retailers, most of them new to the D-FW market.

The first phase of the project is expected to generate more than $200 million in annual sales, more than $7 million in annual tax revenue and spur the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs for the city, said Steven A. Lieberman, The Retail Connection's CEO.

"The retailers have been highly engaged in the design and mix of the project and have played an active role in this collaborative effort ... the development provides the city of Arlington with an exceptional mix of shopping, dining and entertainment concepts," Lieberman said.

Web site: www.theretailconnection.net

Kelley USA

Good to see! Looks like a showdown between Gloria's and Mi Cocina. GO GLORIA!!!

Tnekster

I'm just glad Gloria's is moving south now, as well as Mi Cocina.

Tnekster

Preleasing Demand Steps Up Work on $100M-Plus Arlington Highlands
By Connie Gore
Last updated: January 26, 2006 08:28am
http://www.globest.com/news/461_461...s/142341-1.html

(For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)


ARLINGTON, TX-With site work under way, the development team for the 930,000-sf Arlington Highlands says the first wave of retail space will be open for business in November. Preleasing demand has stepped up the construction pace for the $100-million-plus first phase.


"The reality is we're ahead of schedule from a leasing standpoint and delivery of space," says Steven A. Lieberman, president of the Retail Connection in Dallas. Lieberman's affiliate, Connected Development Services, is co-developing the 80-acre, mixed-use development with the Curtis Mathes family, who's watching a legacy project rise on the last of 2,000 acres that it's controlled since the early 1950s.


The development team is planning a "seamless" rollout of nearly 630,000 sf, with the first 250,000 sf opening in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season and beating most projections by at least four months, explains Daniel Fuller, vice president of Connected Development Services. The retail roster now exceeds 80 tenants in a non-grocery-anchored scenario.


To date, the team says it has preleased 60% of the retail space and is holding commitments to push it to 75%. The rest of the first phase, including 50,000 sf of class A office space, will deliver in spring 2007. Ethan Garner with Transwestern Commercial Services' Dallas office has commitments for about 10% of the office space. The quoted rate for both types of space ranges from $15 per sf to $45 per sf.


Lieberman says Arlington Highlands' draw is its hybrid space mix--junior anchors, specialty and lifestyle stores plus office--in the largest non-mall retail assembly in Dallas/Fort Worth. To sweeten its selling points, it's been laid out with a half-mile of frontage along Interstate 20. "It's an exceptional opportunity," he says, estimating about two-thirds of the retailers are newcomers for the South Arlington market.


The plan is to deliver another 300,000 sf in a second phase by spring 2008--nine months to a year after the first phase is completed. In early November 2005, GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp.'s vice president Bob Stone arranged $88 million in construction financing to kick off site work on the first 57 acres. The piers now are in place; vertical construction will soon start to rise. At this stage of the development, the team's not ready to discuss the second phase or its projected cost.


"Other developers tried to make this happen and failed," John Mathes, senior vice president for the Retail Connection, tells GlobeSt.com. "What makes this the right time for our family, insomuch as this is the last 80 acres, is we really wanted to build a project that's going to be a legacy for the city and our family and we wanted to be involved in this for the long term. With Connected Development getting involved and the participation from the city, it all came together in a surprisingly short period of time."


The City of Arlington has set up a $17-million "tax increment financing district" to cover highway upgrades, including a relocation of an interstate ramp and widening of local streets. Dallas-based Good Fulton & Farrell Architects designed Arlington Highlands; Spring Valley Construction Co. of Dallas is building it. Mycoskie & McKinnis & Associates, also from Dallas, is the landscape architect.

hookbilledkite

Does anyone have any updated information on this new lifestyle center being constructed on I-20 and Matlock in Arlington. It is supposed to be a large lifestyle shopping center. Some retail outlets have already committed, such as Conn's, World Market, Borders, and some others. I was really hoping for a more upscale development with a Central Market, Tommy Bahama, Cheesecake Factory, and retailers such as Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, etc..

A prime example of a well planned lifestyle center is Market Square in The Woodlands, TX.

Random Traffic Guy

///Threads merged. . .///


That's good to hear, I worked on that one for quite some time. It's a great place to visit while going to a concert across the street.

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hookbilledkite

I moved to Arlington from Huntsville and Market Square was partly open - Borders, HEB, Chipotle, and some other places were already open. Tommy Bahama, Grotto, and the others were still not open. In fact, the whole Woodlands Town Center concept is an excellent example of great planning.

freewaytincan

Huntsville? Where'd you live here?

hookbilledkite

I used to manage Huntsville State Park, so I lived on the house inside the park.

UrbanHope

I hope they plan to put some infrastructure support in there. How they plan to have this empty out onto the frontage road. I-20 & matlock is already overwhelmed with traffic.

But that's what Arlington does (Irving also). Let people build whatever they want and worry about it later.

freewaytincan

Oh wow, I was just there for a missions training retreat this weekend, we used the lodge there.

Tnekster

If anybody is familiar with Mariano's in Arlington off of 360 they will be closing down. I was there this week and they told me the lease is up early next year and they intend to close and then open up a Hacienda Ranch location at the new Arlington Highlands center. Bad for me since it is one of the few decent restaurants around here to go for lunch but the new location should be better for them.

hookbilledkite

Has anyone seen the first phase of the new Arlington Highlands Lifestyle Center? It is pretty crappy with the exception of BJ's Brewhouse Restaurant.

The first phase has Jo-Ann Fabrics, Petsmart, Shoe Pavilion, Golf Galaxy and Conn's - not exactly what I was expecting from this development.

Nevertheless, they do have contracts with Gloria's, Mi Cocina, Orvis, PF Chang's, Ann Taylor Loft, Kincaid's Burgers, and a few others. I wish they would put a Cheesecake Factory there.

Tnekster

Cheescake is going into Cedar Hill's Uptown Center. Saw this today when I drove by, obviously lots more to come. This already has it's own thread, can we merge?

Tnekster

I was out for dinner last night in Fort Worth and somebody at our table mentioned Central Market coming to this shopping center. Has anybody else heard this? They still have lots of room for expansion as it opens up but I had not heard this rumor yet.