As Nina Rogers, senior director of real estate for center owner Kimco Realty, explains, the result will be “more options” for visitors to the shopping center, specifically “more dining, more shopping, more parking.” First up is adding a 625-vehicle parking garage and expanding the Trader Joe’s on-site, which will increase its footprint by nearly 50%.
Trader Joe’s will add roughly 4,000 square feet, allowing the store to “offer a full variety,” as Rogers explains. The store is already a traffic driver for Suburban Square, but it’s slightly smaller than a typical Trader Joe’s location. The expansion should be a big boon for the shopping center and for regular patrons of the store itself.
After the expansion and the new parking garage are completed, plans call for constructing a new retail/office building known as Station Row. The first floor of the new construction will include 20,000 square feet of retail, while the upper floors will house roughly 17,000 square feet of offices. An additional 37,000 square feet of combined space will lead to a surge in foot traffic, so it’s a good thing they’re getting the expanded parking out of the way first.
On the retail side, Station Row is expected to attract a mix of international, national, and local retailers and boutique spaces. Rogers explains that “concepts you don’t find a lot on the market” today will help to create what she refers to as “a beautiful Main Street experience” that “enhances everything.”
Also on tap is a new public plaza with outdoor seating for a restaurant tenant. Another smaller plaza is planned for another side of the building, including outdoor seating for a food purveyor. Add it all up, and this center approaching its 90th anniversary, is positioning itself for continued success. In today’s knock it-down and re-imagine the world, this is another approach to model for center owners with properties needing a facelift.
