by Jan Sweetnam
It seems like just yesterday that I packed my bags and moved my family from Manhattan Beach to the Bay Area. In reality, that was 10 years ago. With Federal Realty’s investment in Plaza El Segundo, I’m happy to be working once more in the South Bay.
Along with our investment in Plaza El Segundo, we purchased the eight-acre site on the Northeast corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard. We are feverishly working to develop the site and we will update you as soon as we have information to share.
As much as the market has changed since I left, this intersection has remained stagnant. We think this corner deserves to lead us into the 2020s.
Federal Realty was founded in Rockville, Maryland, in 1962. It is best known on the west coast for being an early investor in the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and for our 1.5 Million square foot mixed-use project Santana Row in San Jose.
In the late 1990s, we also renovated the former Bijou Theater building in downtown Hermosa Beach.
It’s a real testament to the strength of the South Bay market and the product that Plaza El Segundo is performing very well despite opening right before the economic meltdown. It’s not easy to develop a customer base when the consumer is cutting spending. We see precious few projects throughout the U.S that have fared as well.
Plaza El Segundo distinguishes itself because it has great access from Sepulveda Boulevard, it provides a broad spectrum of high quality retailers and parking is ample.
We are thrilled with the level of partnership that our retailers have shown us and their desire to grow their business and serve the community. I would be remiss not to say thank you to Whole Foods for going above and beyond to help us understand their customer and where they see opportunities.
The original developers are first rate firms. The product is great and we will build on what they have delivered. We don’t plan wholesale changes, but rather, we will tweak the merchandise mix for the center and try new ways to make the center better for the customer.
An example of this type of change is we, in concert with the developers, brought in The Container Store to replace Borders Books. In March, Drybar the best-in-class blow out salon opened.
We think hard about what the right use is for any given space and which retailers can deliver on that product. It’s not a science and while we get it right most of the time (in my humble opinion), we might get it wrong from time to time. Expect to see more changes over the next few years as we understand the market and shopping center better and opportunities present themselves.
In the meantime, I’m happy to have sand between my toes again.
by Jan Sweetnam is the West Coast COO of Federal Realty.
