The home-themed mall, opening outside Washington, D.C., hopes to attract a new generation of customers and investors.
Off I-95 in fast-growing Stafford County, Virginia, developers are planning a 300,000-square-foot "destination" mall centered on the home and home goods. According to commercial real-estate site Bisnow, Home Centers USA is on "the cutting edge" of retail and real-estate trends.
The company hopes to attract a new type of "avant-garde" real-estate investor by "turning the landlord-tenant relationship on its head." The mall will have no anchor store, and rather than renting out space, merchants will buy retail condos that they can use flexibly.
On the consumer side, the mall takes advantage of the county's growing population, particularly targeting millennials with its 400 small stores, performance stage, and "do-it-yourself workstations." A project spokesperson describes it thus:
“It’s a large, destination product … It’s not going to be where teenagers go to hang out. It’s meant for a specific crowd and a specific need for that crowd.”
FULL STORY: THE FIRST HOME-THEMED MALL IN AMERICA IS COMING TO STAFFORD COUNTY, VA
Dollar General Unveils Urban Format Store For Millennials
Now proposing to add another 900 stores in 2018, Dollar General continues to rapidly expand throughout the U.S. However, their push for a smaller more urban format is something seriously worth watching.
Top 5 Retail Shopping Center Trends
As the face of retail continues to evolve, tremendous opportunity exists for out-of-the-box concepts and creative retail strategies.
Trabikewalking? Bikpedansit?
Tom Downs says that walking, biking and transit should be considered one mode of transportation, and that the demographic shift is showing a new-found preference for that mode.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.
Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?
Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont