COVER STORY, FEBRUARY 2007

MIX & MATCH
Mixed-use developers are trying more creative tenant mixes to find the perfect combination for the consumers.
Amy Bigley

The idea of having everything within walking distance is becoming more and more a reality as mixed-use developments continue to pop up throughout the Midwest. As developers look for new locations and markets, the fundamentals of creating an inclusive community where residents can work, shop, dine and live remains unchanged.

Union Corners
Madison, Wisconsin

McGrath Associates is developing Union Corners in downtown Madison, Wisconsin.

As the city of Madison enters the fourth year of its downtown urban redevelopment, locally based developer McGrath Associates has begun construction of Union Corners, a 918,000-square-foot mixed-use project located on the 2500 block of E. Washington Avenue in Madison.

A combination of $4.9 million in tax increment financing from the city of Madison, a Wisconsin-funded brownfield grant and the project’s location in a redevelopment corridor has driven McGrath Associates to take on this opportunity to rehabilitate Madison’s downtown area, explains the company’s CEO, Todd McGrath.

Situated on approximately 15 acres along the entrance to downtown Madison, Union Corners will feature a 455,000-square-foot residential component; 80,000 square feet of retail space; 83,000 square feet of office space; and 300,000 square feet, or 700 stalls, of structured parking. The projected cost of the first phase of Union Corners is approximately $50 million, and completion of the second phase should create an additional $40 to $50 million in value.

When complete, Union Corners will feature 455,000 square feet of residential space, 80,000 square feet of retail space, 83,000 square feet of office space and a 300,000-square-foot parking facility.

“The project is targeting the surrounding neighborhoods, commuter traffic (approximately 60,000 vehicles per day), and Madison’s greater east side,” McGrath says. “Union Corners will offer new retail, shopping, dining and other neighborhood services, as well as 450 quality housing opportunities, which are all currently lacking in the area.”

Union Corners, which will include a grocery store, pharmacy, bank, restaurants, a health club, a health clinic, an art gallery, a post office and other neighborhood services, will feature a sustainable design and energy-saving features that are being designed to meet U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certifications. Significant amounts of green space have been included in the project’s design, which has been designated as a Transportation Oriented Design. Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson Design Group; Madison-based SAA; Atlanta-based Simonson Germany Nonemaker + Associates; Madison-based Architecture/CSG Inc.; and Eppstein Uhen Architects are providing architectural and design services for the project.

With the project’s ideal location and high traffic counts, coupled with its complementary mixed-use components and improved site access, McGrath Associates is looking to tap into Madison’s underserved residential, retail and office markets.

“Our company has a history of creating successful urban infill redevelopment projects,” McGrath says. “Union Corners was a unique opportunity to redevelop a large site at a very strategic location.”

Clearwater
Oak Brook, Illinois

The John Buck Company is developing Clearwater, a 470,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The John Buck Company, a Chicago-based real estate development firm, is developing Clearwater, a 470,000-square-foot mixed-use project located at the northwest corner of York Road and 22nd Street in Oak Brook. Situated on a 15.6-acre site, Clearwater will feature a 139-room aloft hotel by Starwood Hotels & Resorts; 130,000 square feet of retail space; 62 luxury condominiums and an existing 124,000-square-foot office building.

“With a daytime population of 100,000 and more than 7 million square feet of existing office space, the demographics of Oak Brook and the surrounding communities are ideal for a mixed-use project,” explains Susan Hammersley, senior vice president of The John Buck Company. “Clearwater is looking to create a community where residents can live, shop, work and play.”

The 130,000-square-foot retail component will include a 50,000-square-foot full-service health club, two restaurants and national retailers, as well as three outlots for additional restaurants and retail space along 22nd Street. The residential component includes 62 condominiums with enclosed parking, storage space, a media room, outdoor terraces and a doorman.

With access to three major highway systems – Interstates 294, 290 and 88 – Clearwater is positioned in an ideal location for a mixed-use project to serve the village of Oak Brook and its surrounding areas.

Goettsch Partners is providing architectural services for the project. The John Buck Company has retained Sierra Realty Advisors to manage leasing of the retail component and E.R. James Realty to lease the condos.

Orchard Development Group’s Clayton Project
Clayton, Missouri

Orchard Development Group is developing a $150 million, three-buildng mixed-use project in downtown Clayton, Missouri.

Situated on the eastern edge of downtown Clayton at the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Carondelet, Chicago-based Orchard Development Group is developing a $150 million, three-building mixed-use project. The currently unnamed project was designed by Chicago-based DeStefano & Partners; it will feature 300 residential units, an office component and retail space. The community will consist of three distinct architectural elements in three stand-alone buildings. The residential tower is on track to be the first multifamily high-rise in the St. Louis area designed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards.

The 26-story high-rise tower will offer more than 500,000 square feet of space including approximately 150 condominiums on 15 floors, six levels of parking and two levels of office space totaling approximately 30,000 square feet. The Terraces building, a six-story, 156,000-square-foot mid-rise along Forsyth Boulevard, will offer approximately 40 residential units with larger floor plans and large outdoor terraces. The remaining condominiums and approximately 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space will be in the Loft building, an approximately 132,000-square-foot, six-story mid-rise along Forest Park Parkway.

The office component will offer rentable space divisible from 1,000 to 7,000 square feet. The 300-unit residential component features a mixture of condominiums ranging from 650-square-foot, one-bedroom condos to three-bedroom penthouses measuring more than 2,000 square feet. Prices for the condominiums will start in the mid-$200,000s and run up to more than $1 million. The development will offer residents a fitness center, an outdoor pool with rooftop deck, indoor parking, and extensive public and private outdoor space.

“The target market for this development includes young professionals to empty nesters,” says Jay Case, principal of Orchard Development Group. “We will have a mix of products that will appeal to many market niches.”

The Clayton Project, which is designated as a transit-oriented development, is also being designed to create an environmentally friendly community with substantial public space, as well as to promote the use of the newly expanded MetroLink public transportation system.

With presales starting early this year and completion slated for 2009, Orchard Development Group is looking to target a variety of tenants and residents to fulfill the needs and demands of the St. Louis suburban market.



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