The center, which features high-end boutique retailers and no department store anchors, is scheduled to open in November, says Terry McEwen, a former Taubman Co. executive and a co-founder of his namesake13-year real estate firm. McEwen explains that a lifestyle center, unlike a regional mall, serves a select high-end geographical area while a regional mall can draw from 20 miles or more.

Aspen Grove, which he says already is 80% leased, will be the fourth one developed by his company. Others are located in Germantown, TN, Leawood, KS, and Deer Park Village, IL.

Aspen Grove, being constructed at Santa Fe Drive and West Mineral Avenue, will be the first major development at a light rail stop. Last year, the Regional Transportation District had opened the Southwest light rail line, which ties suburbs such as Littleton to downtown Denver.

Surprisingly, McEwen says light rail was a small consideration as far as choosing the site. Rather, it had been important that Aspen Grove be positioned close to households with strong disposable incomes.

The company's due diligence indicates Aspen Grove will serve 250,000 people with an average family income of $85,000. McEwen says only Deer Park Village near the Barrington "horse country" in suburban Chicago boasts better demographics.

McEwen told GlobeSt.com there are not more lifestyle centers in the region because it is a "new concept and it took some time to convince lenders and tenants that it made sense." And secondly, he says, "the country went through a period when retail was way overbuilt so virtually nothing was being built for four or five years."

Dana Hansen, a vice president of leasing at the company who coincidentally grew up in Littleton, says a good way to think about the centers is to imagine an upscale regional mall with no anchors. "'If you added four anchor department stores, each with 200,000 sf to our size, you'd have a regional mall of more than a million sf," Hansen told GlobeSt.com. But he says many people don't like to shop in regional malls. Indeed, rather than compete with malls that are several miles from Aspen Grove, such as Park Meadows and Southwest Plaza, Hansen says he expects to draw upon customers who primarily are Internet and catalog shoppers.

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280,000-SF Aspen Grove Jumpstarts Lifestyle Retail Concept for Region

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