Madison Marquette Gets New Retail Gigs

TAMPA, FL-Washington, D.C.-based Madison Marquette has assumed leasing and management responsibilities for Church Street Station in Orlando and Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa. Both retail sites have struggled in recent years.

Channelside Bay Plaza is a 230,000-square-foot waterfront retail property built in 2000. The upscale specialty retail center is in foreclosure.  The court appointed Chuck Taylor, senior vice president of Leasing of Madison Marquette, as the receiver.

"Channelside has been somewhat neglected in the recent past," Taylor tells GlobeSt.com. "It needs some TLC. It needs to be spruced up to create a clean, fresh exciting look—and there is a mixed bag of tenants. We need to upgrade the tenancy and the marketing."

Channelside has location advantages. It's on the waterfront, near the arena and the aquarium. But Brian Bern, director for Franklin Street Management Services, tells GlobeSt.com the site's potential was watered down by previous management that didn't seem to understand the opportunity.

"The challenge here is evaluating the tenant mix, deciding who is going to be able to survive and then attracting tenants back to the Channelside district by proving there's enough business," Bern says. "I would be shocked if the new management group didn't make this a success. The timing couldn't be any better."

But Madison Marquette may have its hands full. The firm is also managing Church Street Station, a 290,000-square-foot retail property. Until the 1990s, it was the fourth-largest tourist attraction in the state after Walt Disney World, Sea World and Busch Gardens. Like Channelside, the property has gone down hill.

"Church Street Station is not very well occupied today," Taylor says. "There are a few tenants that front along Church Street itself. It's got significant leasing opportunities. We think the timing is excellent to take advantage of that."

Taylor could be right. The Orlando Magic's new arena, Amway Center, is located just one block away from Church Street Station and will open this fall. The $480 million dollar arena could help revive the property. Tremont Realty Capital, which owns Church Street Station, is examining a plan to build a $2 million to 3 million canopy over the street between the railroad tracks and Garland Avenue.

"A lot of people have been to Church Street, but not a lot have been there recently," Taylor says. "The challenge for us is to reintroduce the property to the market and to display its proximity to the arena and the new residential developments downtown and market to people who live and work downtown."