PALMDALE, CA-The Irvine-based Hopkins Real Estate Group and Rockwood Capital have broken ground for the 510,000-sf Palmdale Gateway shopping center, a power center with a lifestyle component. The development site is a 50-acre parcel at the northwest corner of 47th Street East and Avenue R that will be home to Super Target, along with other retailers, sit-down restaurants, fast food franchises and financial service businesses.

According to vice president Brian Hopkins of HREG, the developer plans to have the walls up for the Super Target in about four months, in time for a scheduled Oct. 14 opening of the store. In addition to the 172,000-sf Super Target, Hopkins Real Estate Group is in negotiations with Home Depot, Staples and PetSmart as prospective tenants in the new project, which is about 50% preleased.

The sit-down restaurants, fast food franchises and other tenants in the lifestyle portion of the project will be developed in an open-air setting. HREG says it chose the development site because of strong demand for retail in the eastern portion of Palmdale, which the company describes as under-served in terms of retail.

Plans for the center have been in the works since 1992, according to Jim Ledford, mayor of Palmdale. Ledford cites the "huge market on the east side of Palmdale" for such a center.

Palmdale Gateway is being designed by the Pasadena office of KKE Architects, with the Newport Beach office of S.D. Deacon as the general contractor. HREG's Palmdale Gateway partner, Rockwood Capital, is based in San Francisco and Greenwich, CT.