There are many people, from millennials to senior citizens, unwilling to sacrifice the ease and convenience offered by mixed-use living, even with the unpredictability of both coronavirus and social unrest affecting urban livability. Retailers will be attracted to the built-in steady 24-hour traffic mixed-use developments provide. As many multifamily residents telecommute from home, they will still need to escape their confines throughout the day for food, services, essentials and more. In spite of social distancing mandates, these residents still want to have a sense of camaraderie and community that comes with having walkable retail. They will not want to risk traveling far from their home base, so close proximity to shopping, dining and some semblance of social interaction will remain a necessity.
Prominent retailers that have successfully utilized mixed-use space include Starbucks, Panera Bread, Dollar General’s DGX brand, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, Orangetheory, Retro Fitness, Crate & Barrel, Meijer and Trader Joe’s. Look for these still-growing brands to also jump on the mixed-use bandwagon: Handel’s Ice Cream & Yogurt, Tiff’s Treats, Calii Love and Royal Pets Market & Resort. All plan on positioning themselves in mixed-use developments throughout the U.S.
Handel’s Ice Cream & Yogurt has long been a proponent of mixed-use spaces, as its to-go-only window ordering set-up is perfect for social distancing concerns.
The ice cream brand signed a lease to open a 2,800-s.f. street level corner space in the seven-story, 124-unit Gordon Lofts apartment building in downtown Eugene, Ore., this fall. This will be part of the new Market Alley development portion of the 5th Street Public Market outdoor mixed-use expansion project, developed by Obie Companies. Additional co-tenants in the ground-floor retail space will include Café Yumm!, a fast-casual health restaurant based in the Northwest and Heritage Distilling Co., a Northwestern-based craft distillery tasting and retail establishment. Handel’s seeks out space between 500 and 1,800 s.f. and hopes to open at least 15 to 20 new units per year over the next two years.
The fresh cookie delivery service, Tiff’s Treats, which received $15M in funding this year from various backers, including the founder of Kendra Scott jewelry stores, will use the funds to help expand its retail storefronts, including additional mixed-use spaces. This fall, Tiff’s Treats will be opening a 1,202-s.f. ground-floor retail unit at the Apex SouthPark mixed-use development in Charlotte, N.C., consisting of 345 luxury apartments developed by Ascentris and Childress Klein. Ground level co-tenants will include Just Salad with a 1,652-s.f. unit, and Steak 48, with a 9,572-s.f. space. With its delivery set-up, Tiff’s Treats is well-suited as a pandemic era mixed-use business, allowing tenants to safely satisfy their sweet tooth cravings. Tiff’s Treats also has mixed-use space on the ground level of The Lyndon at Springtown apartments in San Marcos, Texas, and the ground level at the 1221 Broadway Lofts luxury apartments in downtown San Antonio. Expect to see more mixed-use space for this dessert delivery-service, which currently has 49 units in four states: Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Tiff’s Treats will continue expansion into new sites throughout the South.
Calii Love, a Toronto-based health food fast-casual franchise, chose the Ivy Station mixed-use development in Culver City, Calif., as its first location in the states, with a 2,000-s.f. unit. The Ivy Station project is expected to be completed before the end of 2020 and will have 200 apartment units, in addition to 50,000 s.f. of retail space on its ground level. Calii Love specifically seeks areas that are community-driven, and eyes mixed-use spaces for its all-day customers, from the breakfast coffee crowd, to the lunch and dinner patrons. Serving healthy fare such as vegan, gluten free, dairy free salads, smoothies and bowls, Calii Love prefers health-minded co-tenants, such as fitness centers and athleisure brands. Ivy Station will house a Stretch Lab, YogaSix and a Healthy Spot. Calii Love seeks out spaces between 1,200 and 1,500 s.f. in areas with a high concentration of females between the ages of 22 and 45. The restaurant hopes to open 25 to 30 new units over the next two to three years in Florida, New York and Washington.
A retailer expected to prove popular with future mixed-use developments is Royal Pets Market & Resort. The concept sells pet-related merchandise and provides boarding, day care, veterinary services and a pet spa. In early 2021, the dog service/store will open an 8,000-s.f. unit in the Novel MidTown Tampa mixed-use development in Florida. The Bromley Companies’ development will have 390 apartments and 206,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail. Other co-tenants will include a 5,000-s.f. True Food Kitchen and a 52,000-s.f. Whole Foods Market. Novel MidTown is making itself dog friendly not only with the Royal Pets unit, but also with an off-leash dog park on the premises. This is on trend with the U.S. millennials delaying having children, and consequently prioritizing pet expenditures. Watch for other mixed-use development to follow suit. Royal Pets currently has four other locations in Florida in the 15,000-s.f. range; the Novel MidTown site will be its smallest.
