COVER STORY, SEPTEMBER 2006

MIXED/MASTER PIKE
The Southeast sees surge in mixed-use developments.
Daniel Beaird

Southeast Real Estate Business has taken a look at some mixed-use developments that are changing the face of the region in Maryland, Florida and Alabama. 

Rockville Town Square
Rockville, Maryland

Rockville Town Square, a 12.5-acre mixed-use community in Rockville, Md.

The mixed-use development will include 644 luxury condominiums located throughout four separate buildings; 180,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; a 100,000-square-foot Montgomery County Library, which will be the largest and most technologically advanced library in Montgomery County; and a 40,000-square-foot Arts & Innovation Center that will feature art galleries and studios, and meeting rooms. The condominium buildings will be built around a tree-lined, open-air town square that provides public space for shopping, walking, gathering and playing. Each building will feature separate exterior designs, which will give the mixed-use development a feel of being built over time.

Interior amenities for the residential units will include hardwood floors, oversized insulated glass windows, controlled access, balconettes, individually-controlled gas heat and air conditioning, a washer and dryer in each unit, gas cooking, 9-foot ceilings, high-speed Internet, track lighting and French doors. Kitchens will feature granite countertops, maple cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and a garbage disposal.

Rockville Town Square will also feature a state-of-the-art fitness center and a clubroom in each building. The mixed-use property will maintain two swimming pools and sundecks. Private access garage parking, with more than 2,000 parking spaces, will also be available.

As for the retail and restaurant space Rockville Town Square provides, leases have been signed by Gold’s Gym, Aveda Day Spa, CVS/pharmacy; boutiques Red Orchard, Waygoose, Bedheaders, Cottage Monet and The Papery; and restaurants Greystone Grill, LaTasca, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Doc Green’s, Cosi, Five Guys, Fractured Prune, Taste of Saigon, Primo Italiano, Lebanese Taverna, Gifford’s Ice Cream, Sushi Damo and Starbuck’s Coffee. A gourmet grocery store also is expected to open at Rockville Town Square.

“Rockville Town Square is a unique project because it is creating a vibrant town center when there never was one,” says Scott Ross of RD Rockville. “The Square’s design is based on the principals of smart growth, and leverages public transit to create a highly livable urban environment that is reminiscent of the great neighborhoods of yesteryear.”

Washington, D.C.-based WDG Architecture designed Rockville Town Square. The development is designed not only for lifestyle and convenience, but also for culture and education. It is the first smart-growth, mixed-use community in the region to incorporate a state-of-the-art library on a public square. The library is built on contemporary design and will house more than 200,000 titles, online and communication technologies, public meeting rooms with modern meeting and presentation facilities, public computers, a coffee shop, a help center, and naturally-lit reading rooms that sit adjacent to expansive windows overlooking the square.  

The prediction is for Rockville to become a 24/7 town. The new mixed-use development will help that process along as it becomes home for various Rockville events such as weekly farmers markets, outdoor arts festivals, Fourth of July, Taste of Rockville and Rockville’s traditional Hometown Holidays.

Rockville Town Square is the result of a collaboration between developer RD Rockville, the city of Rockville, Montgomery County, Federal Realty Investment Trust and the citizens of Rockville. Whiting-Turner is serving as the construction manager. HZDG of Rockville is handling the marketing and advertising for the property while McWilliams Ballard handles residential sales.

The Fountains
Lee County, Florida

The Fountains, located in Lee County, Florida, is planned for a 2,769-acre site.

“Our team has exhaustively researched and documented the site in full accordance with Lee County’s rigorous standards, and designed the development to be a thriving community with minimal environmental impacts,” says Kimball Woodbury, managing director of SouthStar Development Partners, developer of The Fountains. “The Fountains is a model for the type of place-sensitive development that the Fort Myers area needs at this key point in its growth.”

The Fountains will also include 4,215 residential units, which will provide living options ranging from single-family homes to urban condominiums and apartments. The community’s master plan is designed to allow a  variety of travel modes and includes pedestrian-friendly streets, greenways, nature trails, buffer zones and open spaces. The development’s town center, located at the intersection of State Road 82 and Daniels Parkway, will serve the new community and adjoining Lehigh Acres, Florida, with a library, fire and sheriff’s department, two schools, post office, three public parks and an entertainment district. An 18-hole golf course designed to meet Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Course design standards is planned adjacent to a proposed 350-room hotel and conference center.

The Fountains is projected to generate impact fees of approximately $29.3 million for Lee County and an estimated $143.6 million to county ad valorem tax revenues during the next 20 years. The development will also add 7,500 direct and indirect jobs to the area. Its close proximity to the Southwest Florida International Airport will also provide a great opportunity for businesses looking to relocate in Florida.

The Palms at Foley
Foley, Alabama

The Palms at Foley, located in Foley with close proximity to Gulf Shores, Alabama, is a mixed-use development that is in the early planning stages. Nashville-based Woerner Holdings is developing the project, which will contain 400,000 square feet of retail, a restaurant row, a hotel, and 425 condominiums and 425 apartments, all under a Mediterranean theme. The Palms at Foley, a $175 million development, will be situated on 120 acres on State Highway 59. The architect of record is also from Nashville, Gilbert McLaughlin Architects.

Condominium sales will begin in this month with a grand opening for the project tenantively scheduled for August 2007. The Palms at Foley’s proximity to Gulf Shores lends itself to attract tourists and locals. “More than 4 million people live within a 200-mile radius of Foley,” says Matthew Petrin, director of development for Woerner Holdings. “And more than 4 million tourist visit Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and the Foley area each year.”

Baldwin County, Alabama, in which Foley is located, ranks 11th in the United States and fourth in the Southeast for population and financial growth. “There are currently more than 10 mixed-use and condominium developments slated or occurring in the Baldwin County area,” Petrin says.

The location is also strong for retail. “Per capita, the city of Foley leads the state of Alabama in retail sales and also accounts for more than 40 percent of sales tax revenue in Baldwin County,” Petrin says. “Retail sales grew by 43 percent last year in the Foley, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area.”

The Gulf Coast region of Alabama has recently seen the development of many mixed-use and condominium projects including Five Waters Plash Island, Waterdance Resort on Oyster Bay, White Sands, The Wharf — Levin’s Blend, and The Lighthouse.  The Verandas, Bon Secour Village, The Villas at Homeport, Mandolay Beach Resort, Delfino Resort, Riverwalk Resort, Crystal Towers, Phoenix West II, Caymis Resort Condominium and Turquoise Place are other examples of new development in the area. Woerner Holdings and Gilbert McLaughlin Architects are looking to build on that recent development by adding certain features and designs of those nearby projects to their mixed-use concept of The Palms at Foley.

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