Orchard mall ready to open in tough times

Westminster center counts on growing I-25 corridor

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Darin Mcgregor / The Rocky

A workman sweeps off a walkway at The Orchard Town Center, a 215-acre development by Forest City at the northwest corner of I-25 and 144th Avenue.

Darin Mcgregor / The Rocky

Crews work to prepare The Orchard Town Center retail center in Westminster for its April 3 opening. The 970,000-square-foot Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired "lifestyle center" banks on the burgeoning I-25 corridor to outlast short-term economic swings.

Darin Mcgregor / The Rocky

The $180 million Orchard Town Center will be anchored by Macy's, JC Penney, Super Target and an AMC 12 Theater.

Never mind the drumbeat of dismal financial news and reports of skittish American shoppers.

The Orchard Town Center, a nearly 1 million-square-foot Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired "lifestyle center" is set to open in Westminster next week, banking on a fast-growing Interstate 25 corridor that will outlast short-term economic swings.

"The community here is really looking for a place to call their own," said Diana Fiore, The Orchard's director of marketing.

The $180 million Forest City development is anchored by Macy's, J.C. Penney, SuperTarget and an AMC 12 Theater, which this summer will debut one of the chain's first IMAX screens in the state. Some 45 smaller retailers, ranging from Aeropostale to Zales, will open along with the mall on April 3. Another 35 shops will roll out in future phases.

The 215-acre shopping center, at 144th Avenue and I-25, is opening against a backdrop of troubling economic news. Consumer confidence in March fell to the lowest level since the Iraq war began in 2003, battered by rising gasoline prices and sliding home values. Retailers, including Sharper Image, Pac Sun and Ann Taylor, are either going out of business or weeding out stores.

Officials from Forest City and the city of Westminster, which issued $74 million in bonds to pay for infrastructure improvements, point to larger economic trends at work they say make the development a good long-term investment.

Neighboring Thornton is one of the fastest-growing cities in Colorado, up 32 percent since 2000 to 109,155 residents in 2006. The Orchard is within three miles of Adams, Weld and Boulder counties, which are projected to add 70,000 people by 2012, Forest City said.

"This is probably one of the toughest markets you could ever open a shopping center in, and I think all of us wishes it were better," said Brent McFall, Westminster's city manager. "But the center is ready to open, and it will be successful. And I think once the national market settles out, it will be even more successful."

Westminster estimates that The Orchard will generate $350 million in annual sales when all phases are complete, generating some $6 million in sales tax for the city. That will help offset slipping revenues from the aging Westminster Mall, where sales tax revenues have slid nearly 25 percent, to $4 million, since 2003.

Forest City, the Cleveland- based developer of Stapleton as well as high-profile national projects such as the newly built New York Times building in Times Square and Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, made several adjustments to economic forces since breaking ground on the idle Westminster farmland in late 2005. Forest City temporarily shelved plans for 500 residential units until the home market revives and set aside land to open future retail and commercial office space if demand permits.

Forest City isn't the only developer to see the long-term pocketbook potential in the spreading rooftops of the north Denver corridor.

Denver-based Jordon Perlmutter & Co. in 2005 opened Larkridge just a few miles north, featuring big-box retailers such as Sears Grand, Home Depot and Costco. Alberta Development, which built Southlands Shopping Center in Aurora, plans to open the first phase of its planned Northlands development in 2009, said spokeswoman Kerry Anderson.

The Orchard, meanwhile, aims to carve out its niche as a walkable, "downtown" destination amidst the commuter suburbs. The main street-style center features a sunken fire pit gathering space, water fountains for frolicking kids and a roster of summertime free concerts and outdoor movies. The prairie-style brick center's master planner was Berkeley, Calif.-based Calthorpe Associates, which is considered one of the leaders of the "New Urbanism" architecture movement.

Mary Beth Jenkins, president of the Laramie Co., said Larkspur and The Orchard have different tenant mixes that should complement each other.

The Orchard's four anchor tenants are on "every developer's wish list," she said, and the town center design capitalizes on the region's climate and architectural style.

"Every retailer and every developer learns to weather the tides of economic changes," she said. "The foundations of The Orchard, with its demographics and its tenant mix, will allow it to weather better than others."

davisj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2514

The Orchard at a glance:

* Location: northwest corner of I-25 and 144th Avenue in Westminster

* Size: 970,000 square feet of buildings on 215-acre site

* Official opening: April 3

* Anchor tenants: SuperTarget, JC Penney, AMC Orchard 12, Macy's;

will open with about 40 tenants, will have 80 when mall is complete

* Cost: $180 million

* Developer: Forest City