Media Coverage

Charleston Regional Business Journal
Dec 12, 2005
Lowcountry sees stronger demand for mixed-use developments
By Dennis Quick
Staff Writer

Cambridge Square is a forthcoming, 35-acre development in Mount Pleasant's Park West subdivision.

Developed by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Centrium Associates LLC and Surles Partners LLC, an offshoot of Mount Pleasant-based Mike Surles & Associates, Cambridge Square will feature about 60 townhouses and more than 30 "live-above-work" units- lofts located above retail stores. Approximately 138,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space will be built.

The developers hope to begin construction this March and finish in two years.

Cambridge Square is the latest in a line of mixed-use developments- enclaves that include residences plus retail and office space-springing up in and slated for the tri-county area.

"With the Lowcountry's growing population and increasing traffic, there is a significant demand for this kind of product," said Mat Surles, vice president of Mike Surles & Associates.

What residents want

During a Nov. 29 mixed-use development conference in Charleston sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers, Surles and other panelists pointed out that residents here and across the country want more convenient shopping and other services close to where they live.

Mixed-use developments provide that.

"People are tired of driving," said panelist John Knott, president and chief executive of the Noisette Co., the master developer of North Charleston's 3,000-acre Noisette urban redevelopment project, which is based on sustainability and mixed-use.

"Time is more valuable, and people have less time to spend driving to shopping centers and recreation areas. They want immediate access to restaurants, shopping, fitness centers and so on."

People also want to live in more creative, energetic communities rather than in traditional suburbs, Knott added. Mixed-use urban centers, which offer different kinds of housing, different shops and recreational facilities, plus cultural attractions, are drawing today's educated, creative class, he added.

"Mixed-use development is not new in the United States," Knott said, noting that American cities had vibrant downtowns before suburbs were created. "We just got away from it."

A major reason for the return to mixed-use development is the lack of available land for "suburban-style" growth," he said.

Retailing rewards

Mixed-use developments provide retailers a "24-hour customer base" by virtue of being part of a residential neighborhood, said conference panelist Stephen Hutto, leasing director for Chicago-based McCaffery Interests Inc., developer of The Market Common, a 3,790-acre mixed-use development in Myrtle Beach.

"If you live above a store, you'll buy from it eventually," said Hutto, whose development features loft-style residents.

In addition to attracting neighborhood residents to their stores, mixed-use developments generate an "energy level" that lures consumers from nearby communities, Hutto added.

Retailers at mixed-use developments see shoppers spend on average about $75.70 per visit compared with $73.76 shoppers spend each visit to a mall, Hutto said.

In the eyes of more developers, mixed-use projects are becoming more financially attractive than traditional strip malls.

"Mixed-use projects offer better returns," said Shane Doran, President of Daniel Island-based developer James Doran Co., which has completed more than $1.1 billion of mixed-use development in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina.

The nature of mixed-use developments- their residential, retail and office space components which suit today's lifestyle trends-makes such projects more profitable for developers than do drive-to strip mall projects, Doran said.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com