Steiner Starts Phase Two of $250M MXD Center

The first phase of the Greene opened two years ago, with about 465,000 sf of lifestyle retail, including Books-A-Million, the Cheesecake Factory, Victoria Secret, Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer, McCormick and Schmick's, and more. About 90,000 sf of the office, mostly second floor above the retail, opened then as well, and phase one also included 136 loft apartments.

Now, the company is fully immersed in the second phase, with another 315,000 sf of retail planned, about 53 condominiums and 30,000 sf of retail, says David Zoba, principal and COO. "The second phase is over $100 million itself," he says.

The Von Maur was an important anchor to open, Zoba says, and will employ about 200 people. "It was great, we opened this week, and we've had record numbers of customers since then," he says.

The first phase retail is about 94% occupied, and the office and residential portion is full, Zoba says. "Phase two will be at 70% to 80% occupied by late spring," he says. About 17 of the 53 apartments are pre-leased, He says he can't announce the rest of the phase two retail yet. "We'll get them signed in the spring. There's a lot of interest from fashion tenants, this upscale suburb is the fashion area of Dayton," he says.

He says he's not worried about the economy hurting the new center. Some changes had to be made to the original plans, like substituting apartments for condos and dropping plans for a 125-room Marriott hotel, but most of the plan has worked out, Zoba says. "Obviously, in this market, everyone isn't doing that well, but we've had a very successful phase one. It's not like we're opening new. The Dayton customers have come to understand what we're offering here," he tells GlobeSt.com.