Although less than half a mile apart, the sprouting King
of Prussia Town Center has no plans to compete with the mighty King of Prussia
Mall, says the developer behind the new $100 million project.
The Town Center - which sits where the Pennsylvania
Turnpike, I-76 and Routes 422 and 202 converge - aims to be "the downtown
of Upper Merion Township."
"We will be complementary," said Tom Sebastian,
senior vice president of development for The JBG Companies, a large commercial
real estate developers in the Mid-Atlantic region, headquartered in Chevy
Chase, Md. "We are offering something that is a different experience for
the consumer. When you're done shopping at the mall, you come here."
Decorative water features and a 60-foot long "wall
of fire" to illuminate the park at night.
The Town Center is among a $1 billion worth of
development taking place in King of Prussia.
"From the expansion project happening at King of
Prussia Mall, to the new iFly indoor skydiving facility set to open this
spring, to the KOP Town Center, King of Prussia is becoming one of the hottest
places to work, live, and have fun in the entire region," said Edward
Harris, vice president of marketing for the Valley Forge Tourism &
Convention Board.
The Town Center is JBG's first project in Pennsylvania.
It has other similar large scale, mixed use developments in Maryland, Virginia
and Washington.
"Our goal is to build a downtown for Upper Merion to
connect with Wegmans on Main Street and the Center's town square," he
said. "The idea is to give the local residents something that they don't
currently have - a pedestrian-friendly, outdoor shopping venue."
The Center's first retailers, including L.A. Fitness and
Fogo de Chao - will open in July. The planned Town Square in the middle of the
development is slated to open at the same time, while the Center's grand
opening will be in September.
Sebastian said the 125-acre site was originally an
18-hole golf course up until a decade ago. It was rezoned for commercial
development in 2006.
JBG purchased 20 acres in April 2015 to build a 260,000
square foot lifestyle shopping center to accomodate 17 buildings and about 40
retail and restaurant tenants.
IMC Construction Inc., based in Malvern, is the project's
general contractor. The tenants, Sebastian said, will create hundreds of new
jobs with most employees from the local area.
Bill Jenaway, chairman of the Upper Merion Township Board
of Supervisors, said, "we look forward to it being an enjoyable experience
for residents and visitors alike while enhancing our strong economic and
revenue base in the township."
Sebastian said the allure was the 140,000-square-foot
Wegmans which opened in 2014 and is adjacent to the property. It's now one of
the highest performing Wegmans in the area, in terms of sales volume, he said.
Another draw was the 12 million square feet of office
space within a three-mile radius. There are an estimated 60,000 workers now in
King of Prussia.
"King of Prussia has the largest concentration of
office space outside of downtown Philly," Sebastian said.
It's those folks he wants meeting up at the Center after
work for a meal or a drink. "You don't go to a mall to do that," he
said.
Public transit will also be available to take consumers
to both venues.
Surrounding the property will be up to 3,000 new
apartments and a community of about 132 townhouses. They make up the larger
Village at Valley Forge community, of which the Town Center is a part. Wegmans
and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Specialty Care & Surgery Center are
already open.
JBG has 80 percent of the retail space leased out. Among
the signed tenants include a 7,700 square foot Xfinity premiere store,
honeygrow, L.A. Fitness, Nordstrom Rack, REI, Road Runner Sports, and Ulta
Beauty.
The full-service restaurants that have signed leases
include PaladarLatin Kitchen, City Works,Fogo de Chao and Davio's. Another
retaurant lease is expected be signed this week, which Sebastain declined to
name. A few more will be announced in the near future.
Sebastian said when Nordstrom Rack and L.A. Fitness open
their new stores at the Town Center, they will close their existing stores next
to King of Prussia Mall.
L.A. Fitness is building its own, two-story, state-of-the
art health club and plans to open mid-summer, while Nordstrom Rack will open in
late summer.
He said the remaining 20 percent of space will be mostly
for fashion and soft goods retailers.
The site resembled a mini-city going up during a walking
tour led by Sebastian last week. Crews were busy erecting "Main
Street" with the new restaurants lining it.
All small roads leading to the Center will be completed
by June 1 and open to the public.
Source: Philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment