CHICAGO-Three heavy players in the local retail market, as well as a community representative who has seen some success and failure with struggling centers, discussed the definition of grayfields and how it's time to tackle the issues involved with improving them at the kick-off day for the International Council of Shopping Centers' Idea Exchange and Alliance Program on Tuesday.
The panel included retail consultant John Lamotte, principal of the Lakota Group; developer James Matanky, president of Matanky Realty Group; and Charles Ostman, an economic development official with the Village of Niles. The village has the successful Gulf Mill retail turnaround center, but also recently learned that its local Dominick's grocery store would be one of 14 to close in the region. Developer James Kaplan, managing principal of James Kaplan Cos. LLC, moderated the discussion.
The group generally agreed that a grayfield isn't exactly the middle point of a new greenfield and a brownfield. Rather, a grayfield is a property, usually retail, that is struggling in some way, because of a multitude of factors that include age, obsolescence of product, poor management or even a change in the diversity of the community.
What is more important, Kaplan said, is how owners and communities need to examine their properties for potential grayfield indicators, and work with redevelopers for the best solution for that site, regardless of politics or a tenant willing to pay high rent. "It all starts with the planning process," Kaplan said. "Owners, tenants, developers and the community all need to be on the same page, all the time."
Ostman said Niles had an idea that its roughly 56,000-sf Dominick's store was on the chopping block, but that knowledge didn't prepare the village for the recent closure announcement. "They told us several years ago that it might be at the forefront of cuts if they happen, but we thought it was doing well." The store is one of 14 of the 97 remaining Dominick's Finer Foods supermarkets in the Chicago area set to be closed by early April. Safeway Inc. says the division has slipped well behind the dominant supermarket chain in Chicago, Jewel-Osco, operated by Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc.
Matanky said a community, and an owner, really needs to watch how their property is doing, not just paying attention to retailer cash reports but also going to the store and watching how customers react to the products and the site. "See if the shelves are well-stocked, check if the neighborhood is changing. Is this store still right for that neighborhood?" Matanky said.
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