Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 11, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 11 FOCUS Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Napoli Retail, Southington, CT | 2016 | 7,300 sq. ft. Napoli Foods Corporate Offices & Refrigerated/Freezer Warehouse/Distribution Center, Cheshire, CT | 2008 | 215,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. delivery expectations. Consumers are not spending less on goods and services, but the method in which they shop and with whom they patronize has changed. In previous years (pre-Great Reces- sion), the threat to many small brick-and- mortar retailers (think Ace Hardware or the like), was a larger brand name retailer such as a Home Depot or Lowes locating a facility within one or two miles of their location. Today, brick-and-mortar retail- ers of all sizes must grapple with how to compete with the emergence of online shopping; or at least how to create a for- midable online presence of their own. Click-and-order refers to the consumer method of spending and product delivery. The online consumer experience today is one that allows a customer to search for their product of interest via the retailer website, pay for the item with a few key strokes and a click of the mouse, and ex- pect to have the item shipped and received within two to three business days. This evolution of consumer spend- ing has impacted both the retail and industrial real estate market sectors in different ways. The growth of e-commerce has increased the demand for additional warehouse space and fulfillment centers in locations that give them the capacity to respond to online orders and deliver products quickly. The traditional storefront retailers that have managed to remain solvent during this transition have responded by adopt- ing a hybrid approach where they are retaining less inventory on-site (if at all) by incorporating the click-to-order con- sumer behavior, and utilizing the floor- space to showcase the products they are marketing, and enhancing the one-to-one shopping social experience. Q. What did the survey find in terms of the availability of financing in commer- cial development projects? Respondents found that the availability of financing for commercial projects was sufficient and mentioned existing creative alternative financing solutions to fill gaps such as tax increment financing, historic preservation tax credits, tax assessment agreements, and other means. competing with Red Robin, a burger joint located within the same plaza. There's also a nearby McDonald's and two Burger Kings, including one in the mall itself. Westfarms mall hasn't always greeted new competition kindly. Its parent com- pany, Taubman, waged a heated legal and political fight last decade to try to block the $150 million Blue Back Square develop- ment, which it feared would eat into its customer base. They lost that battle and were forced to pay Blue Back a $34 million settlement for financial losses accrued as a result of lawsuits delaying construction. Corbin Collec- tion, however, is a much smaller project. McGovern said when Seritage bought the Sears Store and Auto Center in Nov. 2016 the company had the option to keep Sears open, close it or develop something else. "Redevelopment is not a new approach to Seritage," McGovern said, "though it's the first project of this kind the company has done in Connecticut." Seritage, which didn't receive tax incen- tives from the town for its project, owns 258 retail properties and has completed similar projects in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. As part of the reconfiguration, Seritage will add 52 more parking spaces for a total 1,683 spaces. Sidewalks will be built on New Britain Avenue to encourage pedes- trian walk-ins. A study done on the project area revealed little significant impact on traffic. McGovern said a key reason REI is leaving Blue Back Square is the square's parking facilities." Based on the kind of [outdoor] products REI sells, the garages at Blue Back Square pre- sented a challenge," he said. According to Mc- Govern, Seritage's goal is to transform the Sears property into a first-class shopping and social destination that adds value to the community. "They want to complement what West- farms is already offering West Hartford shoppers," he said. Corbin Collection Tenants Cost Plus World Market Shake Shack buybuy Baby Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th REI Source: Seritage Growth Properties RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED

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