Creating
Great Spaces means something for
everybody
It’s understood that
entertainment specialty projects are the hot new niche in retail real estate. But why?
What led to their creation and what comprises a good one? The answers are as varied as
there are experts in the field, but a few facts jump out. ESP’s can be created in new
facilities or repositioned older venues, but their successful design means they must offer
a combination of retail, entertainment and dining opportunities in a dynamic venue where
people can gather. And their design is really a creative response to the fact that people
want and need to be around other people.
Development Design Group,
Incorporated of Maryland has participated in the design of a variety of urban
entertainment centers, both in the United States and abroad. The company’s chairman,
Roy Higgs, says, “Good entertainment bridges ethnic issues, income, and age –
and it is a worldwide phenomena. There is no doubt that entertainment is a societal need,
but there is a fuzziness about what entertainment is. We are seeing a more advanced
approach to entertainment, and it is even more advanced overseas.”
By example, Higgs points to Menlyn
Park, an entertainment center under development in Pretoria, South Africa. The Development
Design team had the idea to create entertainment venues on the top of parking garages,
offering dynamic multi-use capabilities for the buildings.
No one wanted to try this in the United States, but Menlyn Park developers thought
it was a great idea. DD is now creating a large drive-in theater on the top of one garage
in Menlyn Park. Patrons can drive into the facility, or they can rent one of the vehicles
placed in the first five rows, such as a pink Cadillac or a Volkswagen Beetle. On top of
another parking garage will be an oval forum
dubbed “Menlyn Events.” It will have bleachers and will be used for recreational
sporting events. Higgs says it is meant to be space that is really used, and not
just for commercial purposes.
“This is an idea as old as the
Roman Empire and the Coliseum,” he says. “The fairy dust, the secret, the key to
entertainment is people of all ages enjoying themselves. People-watching is part of what
we create.”
Higgs feels that a large,
multi-screened theater is an important component of an
entertainment center and it helps to have a mix of large and smaller venues in order to
appeal to a broader base. A good mix might include a megaplex and smaller art theaters
and, in the right location, a dinner theater as well. Food is important in creating a
successful entertainment area because it provides a social opportunity, and Higgs says
food consumption will increase in the future due to the aging of the population and a good
economy.
“The developer often pulls
dollars from the creation of a great
space because it can’t be shown on the balance sheet to
the client or finance people.
But today you can’t afford not
to build great spaces.”
“The creation of great spaces is
the key,” Higgs says. “If you can combine great spaces with great food and great
entertainment, you have a winning combination. That sounds simplistic, but it really
isn’t. The developer often pulls dollars from the creation of a great space because
it can’t be shown on the balance sheet to the client or finance people. But today you
can’t afford not to build great spaces.”
Ian Watt, general manager of property
for Old Mutual Properties, the developer of Menlyn Park, thinks that a good entertainment
center fulfills a human need that is often missing in people’s lives. “We need a
common center,” he says. “E-commerce can make you a prisoner of your own house.
When do we finally put up the shutters? We’re all social animals at the end of the
day. We need to create an environment for that to happen.”
Within a community, he says, there is
a need for places for whole families to go to together. If mom gets bored watching
volleyball, she can go shopping. If the kids get bored with shopping, they can go to the
movies. It’s important that all family members can be together at the same time and
place. And, Watt says, when that happens, it creates a spin-off to retail. Everything
comes together in an entertainment center if you can find a successful answer to the
question, ‘How enduring is the space at the end of the day?’
Gerald Divaris, president of Divaris
Real Estate, Inc. says that entertainment centers have evolved because traditional
shopping patterns have changed. “People can get whatever they want on the Internet or
at all-category killer stores,” he says. “But entertainment components capture
people. While they’re there, they will spend money. Disney recognized this years
ago.”
But an entertainment center
doesn’t just happen. Divaris says it requires careful planning and must have a great
location, which means 1) ease of access 2) good parking in close proximity 3) good
visibility and 4) walking ability or ‘pedestrianization.’
Divaris is involved in creating an
entertainment addition to the Pinellas Square Mall in the St. Petersburg, FL area,
refashioning the mall into a whole new entity that will literally be a town center with
districts. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. owns the facility, Divaris leases and
manages it, and Bergmeyer Associates of Boston and Scott Partnership designed the new
position and look. The new entertainment center has been renamed ParkSide, and in addition
to extensive remodeling of the old mall, new entertainment components include an
ice-skating rink with overlooking food court and restaurants, a 20-screen theater, a music
store, a book store, and a variety of new tenants.
“It made sense,” says
Divaris. “It was well-located and well-maintained, but it needed repositioning.”
But for a successful redo, he stresses that the physical plant has to be good.
Patrick McBride of McBride Company in
Coconut Grove, Florida says that the UDEC – urban destination entertainment center
– is the hot new term and fastest growing category. “It consists of food and
beverage, retail and entertainment mixed together,” he says. “It’s not
enough to provide retail opportunities. With the availability of deep discounting and
e-commerce, people need gathering places where they like to go just to hang out – not
just a place to buy socks.” The successful UDEC will provide social interaction and
unique opportunities with tenant mix and dynamic experiences. “The goal is to make it
a spot with something for everybody,” he says.
For instance, in the Shops at Sunset
Place, there is a great mix of retail, entertainment and eateries. At the entrance,
McBride took advantage of native Banyan trees, using them as a theme to create an
entertainment vehicle out of what might have been just a place to enter the center. Every
night at 9 p.m., he says, there is a
“thunderstorm” in the top of the trees, with lightening flashing and booming.
The show draws a crowd every night.
While entertainment is key, McBride
says that when people do show up they need legitimate retail benefits. “Shopping can
be grueling or fun – the goal is to make it fun. I don’t think this is a fad;
it’s a trend. We need to create a more substantial experience.” In the future,
he feels that online and discount shopping will take a larger hold, driving both the
retailer and the developer to find alternate solutions for destination centers. Anything
can be bought over the Internet, but if the shopping venue is fun, people will make the
effort to go out to buy.
McBride feels that theaters are
important in the entertainment/retail equation because a megaplex can draw one million
people. Before or after seeing a movie, those people want to eat, hang out and browse.
Because of that spin-off from entertainment to retail, McBride says that sales per square
foot in entertainment centers are higher than traditional malls.
Because these new
retail/entertainment venues have met with success, many developers think creating a UDEC
will be a salvation, but McBride warns that if the project is not well planned, it will
fail. The area is an important consideration; any plan needs to recognize that what works
in Miami may not work in Des Moines. Projects need to be adapted to local conditions and
it must be decided early on whether the audience will be tourists, locals or both.
Gar Muse, principal and director of
retail at Cooper Carry in Atlanta, says that the development of entertainment centers has
been a response to the way people live. The mall-building craze in the 70s and 80s
happened because land was cheaper in the suburbs, people didn’t want to live in
cities, and automobiles became widely available, enabling transport. Now, he says, people
are moving back into town and don’t want to be in their car all the time. “They
want live/work/play environments. And everybody likes active, open spaces where others
live, work and play.”
In order to compete in those
environments, retail needs to be more accessible, he says, but it needs to grab attention
in order to grab buying power. Muse says open-air design is a big trend that is likely to
continue. “Workers are in buildings all day long – an open air center is
refreshing, a way to be outdoors.” And it doesn’t seem to matter what the
weather is like. Muse points to an open-air venue in Chicago that he helped design.
“It’s a northern city where the weather is not always so great, but the open air
center is very successful. Sometimes people just like strolling in a safe
environment.”
Entertainment helps retail because it
creates high traffic, offers exposure, and generates surrounding activity. And any
exposure helps the retailer. Sometimes retailers need to take advantage of surrounding
activities that may offer inherent entertainment value. “Entertainment is not always
glitz and glamour, or gimmicky attractions. It can be shopping, dining or being a
spectator,” Muse says, noting that even something as mundane as valet parking can be
visually entertaining in the right place. By example, he points to Mizner Park in Boca
Raton, which is a very affluent area. He says the valet parking operation in front of the
restaurants there is a great draw because it offers views of famous people and hot cars.
“People-watching is very entertaining,” he says.
John Wright, principal of Lexington
Scenery & Props in Sun Valley, CA and president of the Themed Entertainment
Association, says that entertainment centers and their tenants need to keep a fresh look
in their premises. “The biggest issue, and it’s coming soon since everybody is
theming, is to add to the ‘black box,’ and keeping it fresh is going to be the
next issue.” He recommends that both developers and tenants create an atmosphere that
is changeable every couple of years.
Wright sees developers and tenants
that think they can build a theme venue, leave it untouched, and everyone will love it in
ten years. But that’s not what happens, he says. The themes become outmoded in time.
“The first five times that a customer walks into your theme restaurant or
entertainment project, they say, ‘This is cool,’ but after that, it’s old
hat.” To circumvent this problem and build a truly compelling reason for repeat
customers, Wright recommends building a modular design and a good solid box that can be
adapted with a change of scenery.
“Using adaptable scenery is a
cost-effective way to keep the theme fresh,” he says. It’s important for
developers and tenants to consider using a theme designer, who can bring a theater
mentality to a project. Wright says that scenery can be built with lightweight materials,
allowing it to be moved in and out of an area quickly. Many times, scenery elements can be
constructed in the designer’s shop and then delivered and installed on location after
the project or tenant closes, creating little or no interruption in day-to-day operations.
Its mobility makes scenery adaptable
within corporate operations as well. Recently, Wright put together a theme element for
Cineplex Odeon for its premier of The Mummy. The set was used as a ‘guest
experience’ for only four weeks and then shipped to an Odeon theater in Madrid, Spain
to reuse for the movie’s premier there. Such short-term theme elements are often
cross-funded between the film maker and the cinema operator; in a retail/entertainment
environment, they might be jointly funded by the theater operator and mall management in
order to put the themed set in the middle of the mall.
Wright cites a common problem with
developers: “They don’t get the entire team on board at the same time – the
architect, the designer and the builder. This is the type of situation where a travesty
will start,” he says. “Then the developer will need to theme the project and the
HVAC is in the way or the wiring has to be changed. And usually the last people in the
team to be called in are the operations people – and they see the traffic flow
issues.” Wright recommends picking a team and getting everybody’s input at the
early stages of design.
Frank Moson, vice president of MBK
Construction Ltd. in Irvine, CA, says that his company works ‘hand-in-glove’
with the architect during the design phase to achieve the most cost-effective and time-efficient way possible to give
the owner the best look and feel. Moson’s
company is AMC’s construction manager, responsible for everything the cinema
exhibition company builds. Currently, MBK is also working for PLC Entertainment on the
Marq-E project in Raleigh, NC, for Consolidated Theaters on a cinema in Virginia, two
locations for Century Theaters in Northern California, preconstruction work for Sony
Theaters in Los Angeles, and preconstruction work for Centertainment’s project in
Burbank, CA.
Developers of entertainment centers
can also minimize coordination hassles by using a good builder that can do a whole
project, he says. “You’ll have one builder for the theater, one builder for the
likes of Dave & Busters and one builder for the developer. You have a logistical
nightmare,” he says. “It’s even more complicated since entertainment
centers are a ‘new breed of cat.’ For the first time, the theater has become
critical in opening a center because it’s the anchor.”
Pointing to the Irvine Spectrum and
The Block, Moson says that the theater is the hub of activity in an entertainment center.
“Cinemas have taken on a new position in retail. Traditional malls stuck the cinema
in an inconspicuous position. Today, the other retailers are feeding off the cinema’s
energy,” he says.
Not only is the theater the anchor,
much of the time it also needs integration into the rest of the facility. “Often you
have a theater on multi-levels or on the second level of the project and that further
complicates the construction,” Moson says. As well, a modern theater itself is
complicated and time-intensive to construct because of its multiple screens and high-tech
gadgetry. “You have to mitigate sound transmission from one auditorium to the next,
the electrical wiring is intense, today’s venues have digital sound, and some venues
require satellite hookups or Internet access on a large scale,” Moson explains.
As much as the retail environment has
changed, Moson says it will change even more in the next five years. But he thinks that change will involve
refinements to the entertainment center concept. The key will be, he says, to
“Develop an environment that gives you a buzz by the way it is designed and that the
anchor is based on an experience.”
Contact information:
Roy Higgs, Development Design Group
410-962-0505
Gerald Divaris, Divaris Real Estate,
Inc.
757-497-2113
Patrick McBride, McBride Company
305-858-7447
Gar Muse, Cooper Carry
404-237-2000
John Wright, Lexington Scenery &
Props
818-768-5768
Frank Moson, MBK Construction Ltd.
949-789-8385