Penn Square Mall update

[Patrick]

Next month, Penn Square Mall should pass the $500 sales per sq. foot, making it one of the top profit-making in the southwest...similar to the Galleria in Dallas and The Houston Galleria. That is nearly double the national average and a big deal in the mall business. Mall management will be looking for even more upscale stores, as this data really puts the mall on the map. The mall is currently 97% leased with permanent tenants.

Cantina Laredo, a new upscale Mexican restaurant (check it out!!!) is no open!

http://cantinalaredo.com/

An Aldo shoe store will be opening in the present Dry Ice location.
http://www.aldoshoes.com/

Land has been cleared for the Elephant Bar and Restaurant that will be built on the far southeast corner of the property.

http://www.elephantbar.com/

[jdsplaypin]

No Cheesecake Factory?

[Patrick]

Ahhh...I forgot. They're working out deals right now for a Cheesecake Factory and a Maggiano's on the north pads. Those would come in either 2006 or 2007.

[jdsplaypin]

Maggiano's in Denver was awesome

[brianinok]

Maggianno's and Cheesecake Factory are great!

[Luke]

This is great news. I'll bet the Apple Store and Coach pushes that $500 per square foot even higher. I think it would be a good idea to build multilevel garages on the North side and using existing surface parking for mall expansion. Is there any talk on mall expansion? Also, you say that they're looking for even more upscale shops. Did they give any ideas as to who they were looking at? Lastly, when is Elephant Bar scheduled to open?

Thanks for the update Patrick!

[poe]

aldo is a great store. i'm really excited to see that.

[JOHNINSOKC]

Since we landed the NBA, maybe we have more upside now in the minds of decision makers at Neiman Marcus or Lord & Taylor's. If they downplay what's happening at Penn Square, then they don't want to be in OKC. I think building more parking garages at PS is a good idea and they can use the existing parking for expansion. Now, if only something could be done about Crossroads. I really believe that if there was significant investment in Crossroads Mall, it would be the best performing mall in the state due to it's location and increasingly wealthy trade area. (Far S. OKC and Moore) Most out of towners don't know where Penn Square or Quail Springs are if they are just passing through OKC, but I would bet that if Crossroads was rebuilt into a mall similar to Penn Square, it would flourish in the future and the whole area around it would fill up with retail. I wish a developer would come to the plate and propose a new 1.5 million square foot Crossroads Mall. The land on the north and east sides of the mall that is just fields could be used in the development. Someone in the management of that mall needs to think outside the box. That area is the only part of South OKC that looks depressed right now and yet it is the most visible. The first thing that should be done is much better marketing of the mall. Then, I think the local management at Crossroads needs to get aggressive and have serious talks with whoever owns the mall and get them out of their chairs to get something constructive done to light a new fire and save Crossroads. I hope they are not waiting for the new interchange to get completed first. If that is what they are doing, then we are looking at another ten years of the status quo.

[plmccordj]

I agree about crossroads. It has a ton of potential that is being ignored. Is there actually plans to redo the Crossroad junction? Maybe we could get rid of the cloverleaf and have a more fluid interchange.

Paul

[metro]

that is why they are re-doing the intersection, to get rid of the cloverleaf

[JOHNINSOKC]

Oh yeah!! The construction is supposed to start in 2007 and take 7 years. The apartment complex on the N.W. side will be razed and there will be flyovers going from I-35 to I-240. My only concern is why there aren't any flyovers going from I-240 to I-35. The timeline does seem too long though. Why 7 years?? By the time they get that done, it'll be time to widen I-35 again to 10 lanes. They need to do that right now to accommodate the rapidly increasing traffic between downtown and Norman. One thing that I'd like to see done if Crossroads were to be rebuilt would be to make it into a huge outlet mall similar to the one in Gainesville, Texas, but much larger. Or, they could build a Mills Mall similar to the one in Grapevine. That area has HUGE potential.

[Patrick]

This is great news. I'll bet the Apple Store and Coach pushes that $500 per square foot even higher. I think it would be a good idea to build multilevel garages on the North side and using existing surface parking for mall expansion. Is there any talk on mall expansion? Also, you say that they're looking for even more upscale shops. Did they give any ideas as to who they were looking at? Lastly, when is Elephant Bar scheduled to open?

Thanks for the update Patrick!

did make some suggestions....namely, dump the 2nd Dillards when they can find an upscale anchor, and possibly dump JC Penney and replace it with an upscale anchor.

I'll try to find out the answers to the rest of your questions!

[Patrick]

By the way, the fountain in center court won't be turned on again until after the holidays. They're going to spend $50,000 on the $250,000 fountain. Tim Johnson Engineers designed the fountain near the theater in Bricktown. The problem with the existing system at PS is that it is controlled by high pressure air. Tim's design uses constant water pressure with diverter valves which still gives the effect, but without the "pop" caused by the air controls. The existing shooters actually pull the rebar mounts out of the concrete.

[Patrick]

I agree with you guys about Crossroads. Crossroads Mall management simply doesn't get it. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but they continue to blame their failures on poor access from the interstate. My response to that is that Mathis Bros. Furniture has NO access from the interstate, yet they're still able to be the #1 furniture store in OKC. Why? Because they offer a pleasant shopping atmosphere with affordable products.

The problem with Crossroads? The glazed concrete floors, the dark, warehouse appearance, the 1970's railings, the warehouse lamps, .....must I go on???
Inside and out, Crossroads looks like a dump. Macerich Properties doesn't maintain the facility. And there are no excuses. They have a huge facility in a very high traffic area. They could lure all sorts of tourists off the interstate with the right marketing and an improved shopping environment.

I encourage you guys to email mall management and complain. Tell them it's time to make a decision...improve the mall, or sell it.

I've already emailed them. Here are the addresses:

Christi_Parks@macerich.com, Senior Marketing Director
Jim_Swenson@macerich.com, mall manager

[BricktownGuy]

I would also encourage everyone to email both of the individuals mentioned by Patrick above. I emailed Swenson about 4-5 months back.. but will do so again. Even if we can get about 50 emails sent... it should send a wake up call. keyword, should.

[writerranger]

I have a friend in the mall management business in Kansas City. He has always told me that Crossroad's biggest problem is it is a Macerich managed mall. Penn Square is managed by the best of the best in Simon Properties.

[Patrick]

Luke and others, here's the latest. The 5 year plan for the mall includes expanding the existing parking garage, doubling the current parking space. Options after that may include building other garages on the north side. This will only up more roon for expansion in years to come. Will expansion occur? Well that depends on how leasing goes. right now it's good.

Elephant Bar should be complete late summer/fall 2006.

[windowphobe]

Yeah, but Simon also used to manage Heritage Park Mall, and we all know what happened to it.

I agree, though, that Macerich hasn't done much good for Crossroads.

[brianinok]

Patrick, I am very glad to hear about Simon's plans for Penn Square. I hope they stick with it-- and don't sell it off.

We can sit here and dream about what could go in there. But, realistically, Patrick, do you (and the people you know there) think that:

1. Expansion will occur if the leasing continues at it's current pace (and the mall hits $500/sq ft in sales).
2. Simon would recruit at least 1 upscale anchor like Neiman Marcus, Nordstom, etc.
3. Additional stores like Kenneth Cole, Crate & Barrel, Brooks Brothers, etc.

What do they think Foley's changing to Macy's will do? I know that now when going to a department store in OKC (I prefer Nordstrom and Macy's-- but I can't do either here now), I will go to Dillard's 95% of the time. When Macy's opens, I will probably go there 95% of the time. Is it possible Dillard's will shrink to 1 location and an upscale anchor will go in the old Wards spot?

[Patrick]

For the time being, I doubt Dillards will give up their spot (the old Wards space). They invested millions of dollars into that space, plus that's the flagship Dillards store for the state of Oklahoma.

I think #3 is the most likely, at least for the short term (over the next 5 years). #2 would come next, followed by #1. I could see an upscale anchor like Nordstroms building on the west side of the mall, by Pepperoni Grill.

Booting JC Penney out might be an option.

I'm not sure what their lease agreements are at the present time.

[Patrick]

About Heritage Park, one thing you have to remember is that Simon was responsible for the heyday of Heritage Park as well. They built Heritage Park. Heritage Park's problem is 3 fold: 1. Location, 2. Demographics (MWC area), and size (regional malls simply aren't doing well). Also, the fact that Simon had the mall up for sale for 10+ years didn't help matters. Stores typically don't want to locate in a mall where ownership is uncertain.

[Patrick]

To tell you the truth, Quail Springs has the demographics to go more upscale, but management chooses not to......their target is the working class family. That's what I was told by their management a few years ago.

I suppose Crossroads management's target crowd is low life. I'm not sure why they set their target so low. It didn't used to be that way.

[JOHNINSOKC]

Yeah, it's ashame that Crossroads has gone to the cellar. I guess those in charge locally just want to show up and get their eight hours in and go home. You would think that with all the success that the other two northside malls are enjoying, that it would be a wake up call for management at Crossroads. I guess it's the same mindset that the powers that be at the airport are under. I just don't get it. I think Crossroads should be torn down and rebuilt into an upscale 21st century mall. The affluent crowd will then flock to Crossroads in droves, therefore, driving out the troublemakers that now frequent the mall. The mall could be closed for a year while the rebuilding takes place.

[jbrown84]

I'm not a big fan of tearing things down when it's unnecessary, but I would say that Crossroads is beyond saving at this point if something drastic isn't done. And that may mean tearing it down and building something new. It really is a lot better location than Penn or Quail as far as interstates go (at least once construction is done). It's a shame it's in such crappy shape. It really is a black eye on the city in my opinion. I would never send a tourist or visiting friend there.

[poe]

i'd like to see a crate & barrel (or something along those lines) at 50 penn place. i think that is a unique destination store that oklahoma city could support. and as far as expansion goes at penn square, some sort of 'lifestyle' area would be nice with outdoor shops and the like connected to the main mall. i'm not sure if that would work, but commercial developers seem to maximize small areas.