Cato and ULTA Beauty Now Open at Stirling Lafayette Shopping Center
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the openings of Cato and ULTA Beauty at Stirling Lafayette Shopping Center at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Louisiana Avenue in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Cato, a leading specialty retailer of women’s fashions and accessories, occupies a 4,000 square foot space at Stirling Lafayette Shopping Center. Cato offers high quality fashions at low prices with over 1,000 stores in 31 states.
ULTA Beauty, the largest beauty retailer, occupies a 10,000 square foot space in the Shopping Center. ULTA Beauty provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products in the United States and offers a full-service salon in all of its stores.
“Cato and ULTA are key additions to our Stirling Lafayette Shopping Center and help enhance the variety of shopping offerings for women in the area,” said Rhonda Sharkawy, Senior Retail Leasing & Development Executive for Stirling Properties.
For more information regarding leasing and sales opportunities, please contact Rhonda Sharkawy at rsharkawy@stirlingprop.com or 504-620-8145.
Stirling Properties Officially Announces Sam’s Club is Coming to Stirling Bossier Shopping Center
Stirling Properties, developer and property manager of Stirling Bossier Shopping Center in Bossier City, Louisiana, officially announces the addition of Sam’s Club to its tenant lineup. Construction is underway on the parcel next to Academy Sports + Outdoors fronting Beene Boulevard.
The new Sam’s Club, plus fuel station, will be the first one in Bossier Parish and the 15th in Louisiana. The opening is scheduled for Summer 2014.
“Sam’s Club is a great addition to the Bossier market and Stirling Bossier Shopping Center” stated Donna Taylor, Senior Vice President of Asset Management and New Business Development for Stirling Properties. “With the addition of Sam’s Club, there is only a 3-acre site left to be developed and we anticipate we will have a great deal of tenant interest in this tract for development with the addition of Sam’s.”
Measuring approximately 136,000 square feet, the new club will feature a variety of members-only amenities, including a Fresh Bakery, a Tire and Battery Center, a Café and a Fuel Station. The Sam’s Club Pharmacy, open to both members and the public, features many $4 and $10 generic prescriptions, as well as extraordinary savings on branded prescriptions. Also, the new club will debut a new Hearing Aid Center, offering premium technology in hearing aids and personal listening devices available from a certified audiologist.
“The new Bossier City Sam’s Club will allow us to expand our service in a region of Louisiana we have served since 1986 through our Shreveport Club,” said John Bernheim, the local market manager for Sam’s Club in northern Louisiana. “We are pleased to grow east of the Red River, an area that has seen exceptional growth during the past few years.”Sam’s Club will utilize a variety of environmentally friendly-materials and energy-efficient fixtures in its construction, including daylight-harvesting skylights that reduce the amount of energy required to light the store by up to 75 percent daily. LED lighting throughout the club, including in the cooler and freezer box doors and jewelry counter, operates 70 percent more efficiently than traditional fluorescent lighting.
Also coming to Stirling Bossier Shopping Center is Dickey’s Barbeque Pit, a fast casual, quick-serve, full-service barbeque restaurant that smokes all of their meats onsite. They are scheduled to open late 2013 in the former Quizno’s space on Beene Boulevard. To date, over thirty retail, service and restaurant tenants are already in operation at Stirling Bossier, which officially opened in July 2007.
For more information about the Stirling Bossier Shopping Center contact Donna Taylor, Senior Vice President of Asset Management and New Business for Stirling Properties, at dtaylor@stirlingprop.com or by phone at (985)-246-3758.
Fremaux Town Center – October Update
Almost overnight Fremaux Town Center has risen into a sizable addition to the landscape of Slidell. Building construction is continuing with all of the Phase 1 tenant buildings vertical and many with roofs completed and facades commenced. Color is being added to the exteriors and identification of the major tenant’s storefronts are becoming obvious. Interior work is also underway for the anticipated Spring openings.
Site work has progressed with curb and paving of the parking lots and drives. Landscape islands and ponds are developing with planting to commence in about 30 days.
Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement about newly signed tenants!
New Orleans Retail is on the Rise
Mark Twain once quipped “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme”. The Crescent City has been America’s boomtown before, but this time, something is different. Aided by tech, medical and digital media job growth, infrastructure improvements, rising tourism and political reform, the City has become a magnet for young educated professionals, and retailers have noticed.
Selected New Orleans Rankings
In recent history, aging infrastructure and crime crippled economic development. While Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were physically devastating to the region, they also uncovered social and political issues that needed to be rectified. Federal funds flowed to improve infrastructure. With that came oversight and political reform. The private sector rolled up their sleeves and made bold choices to invest in the city and its unique culture.
Together this created a higher demand than the current supply of Retail can absorb. As reported by The New Orleans Business Alliance, the city currently is losing $1.9 Billion in retail sales annually to neighboring parishes where traditional retail development has flourished. While some sections of the city still are recovering, the city’s core has experienced a great demand for development and re-development. “New Orleans was once considered a market that offered the worst to retailers. Today retailer activity and interest are at an all-time high,” stated Townsend Underhill, Senior Vice President at Stirling Properties.
Luxury retail is on the rise. The Shops at Canal Place, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, has experienced double digit sales growth in each of the last four years. Recent openings include J. Crew, Allen Edmonds, Michael Kors and Lululemon, with Tiffany and Company slated to open in November. “It is clear that New Orleans is experiencing nothing short of a Renaissance,” stated Brandon Berger of The Berger Company, owner of Canal Place. “Canal Place is well positioned as the only Luxury Mall between Houston and Atlanta. The higher end the item the retailer carries, the higher their sales volume.” In addition H&M will open a 32,000 square-foot French Quarter location in late October, their first in the United States outside of New York and Boston to offer home goods as well as soft goods.
The Outlet Collection at the Riverwalk – Rendering
The Outlet Collection at the Riverwalk, an upscale outlet center downtown near the French Quarter and Warehouse district, is scheduled to open in 2014. At 250,000 square feet, it will serve both locals and tourists and is billed as the only Outlet Center in a downtown setting in the U.S. Mark Bulmash, Vice President of Development at the Howard Hughes Corporation and Developer at Riverwalk added, “A few years ago, retailers would ask the question, ‘Why New Orleans?’ Today the question is, ‘Why aren’t we in New Orleans?’”
South Market District – Rendering
The Warehouse District in the CBD has transformed from blighted space into a vibrant neighborhood. The 40,000 square-foot Rouses Grocery opened in 2011 and was influential in making the area a true neighborhood. While condominium conversion is still underway, new construction mixed-use projects are also taking shape. The South Market District by the Domain Companies is under construction. Phase I will open late 2014 featuring 209 residential units and 22,000 square feet of Retail. Once complete, the project will include over 600 residential units and 170,000 square feet of retail located along the streetcar line and walkable from downtown Class A office buildings and the Superdome.
Mid-City Market
The 107,000 square foot Mid-City Market developed by Stirling Properties opened in July. Anchored by Winn Dixie, the site marks the entry into New Orleans for some notable restaurant chains like Panera Bread, Pei Wei, and Five Guys, and filled the void for much needed goods and services in the Mid-City neighborhood. Whole Foods will enter Mid-City as well with a store currently under construction on Broad Street that will mark their third location in the New Orleans metro.
Big box stores and Jr. Anchors that traditionally were kept out of the city for lack of developable land have found a limited opportunity to penetrate the market. Costco has completed its first Louisiana location with a 148,000 square foot store located near the population center. Wal-Mart has two Supercenters under construction in Gentilly and New Orleans East, 110,000 square feet and 180,000 square feet respectively. Magnolia Marketplace, scheduled to break ground in January 2014, will be the only true Power Center on the Eastbank of New Orleans and will offer Jr. Anchors the chance to gain access to the local market for the first time.
Development projects in virtually all areas of the city will allow retailers to penetrate a market previously thought impenetrable. Additional growth of mixed-use and street retail projects will offer more opportunities for the growing retail sector and will cater to the urban population and tourists. From luxury to discount, retail is hot in New Orleans and investors, lenders, developers and retailers are working hard to gain a presence.
This article was submitted to Southeast Real Estate Business magazine. An edited version appeared in the October 2013, Volume 14, Issue 7 print edition.
Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. Announce New Stores Coming to Fremaux Town Center
Fremaux Town Center (Progress as of August 31, 2013)
COVINGTON, LA and CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – September 5, 2013 – Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CBL) announce the addition of five new national tenants to Phase I of Fremaux Town Center in Slidell, Louisiana. Phase I is approximately 295,000 square feet anchored by Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, T.J.Maxx, and Michaels. Construction is moving along as scheduled with an anticipated opening of Spring 2014.
Joining the previously announced tenants are:
- Cheddar’s, an inviting neighborhood restaurant offering hand-made, high quality food at a reasonable price, will occupy 8,000 square feet. This will be Cheddar’s first Southeast Louisiana location.
- Kirkland’s, a leading specialty retailer of home décor, will occupy 7,000 square feet. This will be the retailer’s third location in St. Tammany Parish.
- Panera Bread, a bakery-café bringing the tradition of freshly baked artisan bread to neighborhoods in cities throughout the country, will occupy 5,000 square feet. This will be Panera Bread’s second St. Tammany location with a store already located in Covington.
- Carter’s, a leading brand of children’s clothing, gifts and accessories, will occupy 4,000 square feet. This marks the retailer’s first location in East St. Tammany.
- Massage Envy, the pioneer and national leader of affordable massage and spa services, will occupy 3,000 square feet. This will be the second St. Tammany Parish location for the retailer.
“We are excited to bring these highly regarded retailers to the Slidell market,” said Townsend Underhill, Stirling Properties’ Senior Vice President of Development. “Their commitment to this project demonstrates the quality of this development and the strength of our regional economy.”
“The addition of these new stores and restaurants will complement and enhance the existing line-up of great retail names,” said Michael Lebovitz, CBL’s EVP – Development and Administration. “Fremaux Town Center continues to receive strong demand and is sure to be a first-class retail destination for Slidell and the entire region.”
Once complete, the 80+ acre Fremaux Town Center will consist of two phases. Phase II will include up to 320,000 square feet of additional retail space anchored by Dillard’s and is scheduled to open in Spring 2015.
For leasing information, please contact Ryan Pecot by telephone at 337.572.0246 or by email at rpecot@stirlingprop.com or Rodney Gordon by telephone at 423.553.8704 or by email at rodney_gordon@cblproperties.com.
For information on available outparcels, please contact Ryan Pecot or Robert Snetman by telephone at 423.490.8333 or by email at robert_snetman@cblproperties.com
About Fremaux Town Center
Fremaux Town Center will be located on more than 80 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 10 and Fremaux Avenue in Slidell, LA. Slidell is the largest municipality in St. Tammany Parish on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain near the city of New Orleans. With its interstate location and high-visibility, Fremaux Town Center is expected to become a regional destination. Currently under construction, Fremaux Town Center Phase I is scheduled to open Spring 2014 and will include retailers such as Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, T.J.Maxx, Michaels, PetSMart, ULTA Beauty, Cheddar’s, dressbarn, Kirkland’s, Versona Accessories, Rack Room Shoes, Panera Bread, Lane Bryant, Carter’s and Massage Envy. Phase II will be anchored by Dillard’s and is scheduled to open Spring 2015. For updates on Fremaux Town Center “like” us at www.facebook.com/FremauxTownCenter.
About CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
CBL is one of the largest and most active owners and developers of malls and shopping centers in the United States. CBL owns, holds interests in or manages 154 properties, including 93 regional malls/open-air centers. The properties are located in 31 states and total 89.3 million square feet including 9.3 million square feet of non-owned shopping centers managed for third parties. Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, CBL has regional offices in Boston (Waltham), MA, Dallas (Irving), TX, and St. Louis, MO. Additional information can be found at cblproperties.com.
President’s Message: It’s a New Day in New Orleans!
Last week, we celebrated the Grand Opening of Mid-City Market in New Orleans. This Winn-Dixie anchored, urban shopping center is a milestone for Stirling Properties, as it’s our largest ground-up shopping center development in the City of New Orleans in our company’s 37 year history! It also represents one of the most significant retail developments in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, taking once blighted and vacant properties and returning them to commerce. This project creates over 500 new jobs and generates projected annual retail sales of over $61 Million.
Mid-City Market is the culmination of over 4 years of work and it was a challenge to put (and keep) all the pieces together. Few companies could take on a project of this complexity and succeed, but Stirling Properties was up for this challenge.
I want to commend our incredible team who worked on this project for a job well done! There were many points in time where it looked like the deal was dead, but our Stirling team worked diligently to complete it. It was through their hard work and perseverance that this inner-city project materialized.
I also want to commend Mayor Mitch Landrieu for his vision and leadership and Councilwoman Susan Guidry for her incredible support and drive to help make this a reality for Mid-City.
The Mid-City Market project is a result of over $40 Million in private investment and demonstrates our strong belief in the City of New Orleans and the civic and business leadership which has created an environment where businesses are confident to invest. A plethora of national and regional rankings paint a truly remarkable picture of New Orleans as THE city on the move, which is in stark contrast to previous decades.
This project, combined with our other projects completed to date, brings Stirling’s investments to over $120 Million in the City of New Orleans in just the last 3 years. All of us at Stirling Properties are confident in the direction of New Orleans, and Mid-City Market shows our continued commitment to the market. This project was the first for us in many ways and certainly will not be the last.
