Chain Store Age - July 2009

Phase 1 of Gloucester (Mass.) Crossing will be anchored by Market Basket and will include Marshalls and about 60,000 sq. ft. of stores and restaurants.

In the case of Tri-Land, which focuses 90% of its activities on redevelopment, every project launch is preceded by garnering that understanding. “We first look at older supermarkets with outdated formats but that are still doing good volume,” he explained. Tri-Land then ascertains whether the existing store can be enlarged, “but usually it can’t, because these old stores often aren’t deep enough to be enlarged and still achieve optimal functionality.”

The next move, then, is to find an alternative site, usually within a mile of the current location, and initiate discussions with the grocer and with the municipality.

“The attitude of the town is of paramount importance,” said Dube, “in terms of zoning, entitlement and financial assistance.”

Tri-Land’s The Crossing project in Smyrna, Ga., met all of the above criteria. Currently in the planning stages, with a 2010 construction start and an early 2011 completion, the project will feature a 92,000-sq.-ft. Kroger Marketplace anchor. “It’s a classic redevelopment project, with high density, a cooperative township, the right site and access, and the right depth to handle the parking field.”

The right market: When Boston-based Sam Park & Co. tapped Market Basket to anchor the developer’s first grocery-anchored project — Gloucester Crossing in

Gloucester, Mass. — it did so because of how well the grocer knows its market.

“We went with Market Basket because they know their market, and

A 98,000-sq.-ft. Giant store
prototype will anchor Blue
Mountain Commons, a project
under way in Harrisburg, Pa.

they know how strong this location is for them,” said Sam Park, managing partner. “And they will drive enormous retail traffic to our center.”

Market Basket, a New England-based chain of about 60 stores, will open a 60,000-sq.-ft. anchor in the 195,000- sq.-ft., mixed-use Gloucester Crossing, situated at Route 128 and Gloucester Crossing Road, in downtown Gloucester. “Those people who live here know that this area needs retail,” said Park. “The nearest competition is over 17 miles away.” Park added that the center won’t be “ho-hum, but rather a vibrant retail village,” with direct access to the highways, yet surrounded by rooftops, businesses and downtown amenities.

“Mixed-use allows us to create greater density, to provide greater variety and create collectively a destination within a city,” he said. The first phase of Gloucester Crossing opens this fall, and features Market Basket, Marshalls and approximately 60,000 sq. ft. of stores and restaurants. Phase 2 will include a 100-room hotel with ground-floor retail, along with the Shops at Gloucester Crossing — more than 40,000 sq. ft. of smaller stores, restaurants and specialty retailers. Phase 1 openings are slated for this fall. Leasing is being handled by The Wilder Cos., Boston.

“Given our success with Market Basket and our mixed-use program, we are now exploring several grocery-anchored opportunities that we intend to start once this project is completed,” said Park.