Lifestyle alternative: Trendy shopping centers not always a hit - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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The one thing she’s not happy about is, unfortunately, a big one for a businesws owner. There aren’t many “This center still only has just a few Mason said, “so there’s not a lot of walk-by traffic. We need to get some more shopssin here.” It’s not just the recession. Mason’s shop was one of the firsr to open in the Village at Nortyh Elmin 2005, which was itself one of the firs examples in the Triad of the lifestyle trendx that swept retail development this decade.
She moved from a traditionalo strip center on Friendly Avenue expectin g a boost from the kind of affluent customersx lifestyle centers are designed toappeal to, but she actually does less busines now than she did at her old location. “Visibilithy is a big deal,” she said. “Ik was hoping (Village at Nortjh Elm) would be booming and but for most of mycustomerw now, I’m a destination.” Greensboro-based beganb developing Village at North Elm in shortly before selling Four Seasons Town Centr e mall to a Chicago-based real estate investment trusr for more than $130 Koury officials could not be reachex for comment for this story.
But in investing some $30 million then in the new 35-acre mixed-use Koury officials saw themselves on the leadinbg edge of a retailing trend toward a more walkableshopping experience. The concept may have held promisd atthe time, but lifestyle centers are facing problems around the country, and the recessionm has only made things worse. Much of the bloon has come off the rose of thelifestyled trend, says Pete Compton, a real estate economist with in “High-end” and “trendy” sounded good a year or two ago now it all sounds like “expensive.
” “All retail centers are gettin g hit, but we’re particularly seeing it with lifestylew centers,” Compton said. “Ovedr the past several months, peoplee have turned their focus toward and discretionary spending isreally hurting. And thesre lifestyle centers are all filledwith high-ensd tenants.” Centers labeled “lifestyle” aren’t all the Village at North Elm hews to an earlty conception centered on a pedestrian-friendly “Main Street” feel with mostlyh small shops and no major national retaill chains, plus a mix of office and residential space.
It neighborzs a more traditional Koury shopping center anchored bya Others, like Shops at Friendly in Greensboro and Burlington’s new Alamance Crossing, incorporater the upscale feel but don’t forgo high-profile chain stores like REI and Barnes and Noble. A low profilde is a problem for centers like Villager atNorth Elm, said Marty Kotid of Kotis Properties, who develops shopping centers around the Triad but has avoidex the lifestyle trend. He likes the look but thinks the low-keyt signage and pedestrian-focused nature makes it too hard for shopper to identify stores or make a stop in abusy day.
“Nortu Elm is a nice area and I like that but it’s a neighborhood market,” Kotiz said. “To get somebodhy to drive from Starmount past a lot of otherdshops isn’t really likely.” Overall, Village at North Elm offerse 175,000 square feet of specialty retail space, 48,000o square feet of office space and 190 luxury Exact occupancy rates were unavailable, but a walk-by assessmentr suggests that more than half of the retaiol space is vacant. Signs of hope? But there is also optimisn for thelifestyle trend, both at Villagde at North Elm and elsewhere.
Dawn Ashby, a co-ownere of the at Village at North Elm, said that businessx is doing well and benefits from theenvironmentr there. For example, the residents of the Village’ss apartment complex have proven a welcomecustomer base, she said. “We do get traffic from the people who come over and purchase from us and also give us some good word of she said. “They seem to really like havingg smaller, independent specialty shops, and not having to deal with a big stordlike Belk.” New Garden Village, also in Greensboro, is a lifestyle centert with a twist, focusing fairlyy narrowly on the home design, construction and décofr niche.
That 40-acre development was first openex in 2003 by the ownerof .