The home-themed mall, opening outside Washington, D.C., hopes to attract a new generation of customers and investors.
Off I-95 in fast-growing Stafford County, Virginia, developers are planning a 300,000-square-foot "destination" mall centered on the home and home goods. According to commercial real-estate site Bisnow, Home Centers USA is on "the cutting edge" of retail and real-estate trends.
The company hopes to attract a new type of "avant-garde" real-estate investor by "turning the landlord-tenant relationship on its head." The mall will have no anchor store, and rather than renting out space, merchants will buy retail condos that they can use flexibly.
On the consumer side, the mall takes advantage of the county's growing population, particularly targeting millennials with its 400 small stores, performance stage, and "do-it-yourself workstations." A project spokesperson describes it thus:
“It’s a large, destination product … It’s not going to be where teenagers go to hang out. It’s meant for a specific crowd and a specific need for that crowd.”
FULL STORY: THE FIRST HOME-THEMED MALL IN AMERICA IS COMING TO STAFFORD COUNTY, VA
Dollar General Unveils Urban Format Store For Millennials
Now proposing to add another 900 stores in 2018, Dollar General continues to rapidly expand throughout the U.S. However, their push for a smaller more urban format is something seriously worth watching.
Top 5 Retail Shopping Center Trends
As the face of retail continues to evolve, tremendous opportunity exists for out-of-the-box concepts and creative retail strategies.
Trabikewalking? Bikpedansit?
Tom Downs says that walking, biking and transit should be considered one mode of transportation, and that the demographic shift is showing a new-found preference for that mode.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.
Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service