Atlanta Retail Center Fills Space With Unconventional Tenants

ATLANTA—Three years ago, the Amsterdam Walk retail center in Midtown Atlanta was hurting—bad. Forty-two percent of its space was vacant. Instead of simply chasing more retailers, owner/manager Halpern Enterprises decided to go in a different direction to turn things around.

To supplement the search for more retailers, Halpern and leasing agent Gene Kansas of Gene Kansas Commercial Real Estate focused on landing retail tenants offering services that families in the surrounding affluent neighborhood would use. Now, the 126,000-square-foot property is 96% occupied with such tenants as an international preschool, a martial arts academy for kids, a Down Syndrome awareness center, and a doggie daycare.

GlobeSt.com caught up with John Brozovic, regional director of Leasing for Atlanta-based Halpern to discuss the strategy behind the center's turnaround.

GlobeSt.com: Did Amsterdam Walk start out as a family-focused center?

Brozovic: Halpern Eneterprises bought the property in 1985 with the intention of making it an outlet center. But as the economy began to boom, the center attracted a number of unique high-end retailers, such as The Cook's Warehouse.

To match the retail mix, we rebranded the center as Amsterdam Walk. By the mid-2000s, business was great and tenants were lined up to get into Amsterdam Walk. It was vibrant and popular. Then the great recession hit.

GlobeSt.com: The recession did indeed hit Atlanta hard. So how did this affect Amsterdam Walk?

Brozovic: As the economy took a downward turn, the home furnishing stores were the first to go out of business because consumers stopped buying the big-ticket items. Also, while our center is a charming and unique piece of property, its location posed a problem because it isn't visible from the road.

When the economy slowed down, retailers felt the need to relocate to shopping centers in more visible locations. By 2010, the center hit a low point with over 73,000 square feet of vacancy. We knew change was needed.

GlobeSt.com: How did you decide to work on shifting the mix of tenants beyond strictly retail?

Brozovic: We realized that concentrating on traditional retailers was not going to help us acquire tenants. As we considered what to do, the catalyst came from thinking about leveraging the success of our tenant International Preschool.

It's a for-profit preschool that was doing so well that, despite the recession, they were actually planning to expand, making the school the largest tenant in Amsterdam Walk. This in turn led to attracting GiGi's Playhouse, an educational center for families with children who have Down Syndrome, and Highland Martial Arts, a martial arts facility that caters to children.