A national real estate investment group announced its purchase of the former Marketplace Shopping Center with a group of local investors, with plans to invest $53 million in the project.
The deal was finalized Nov. 29, and the development team has put together an aggressive schedule that will have most tenants in place and open by fall 2019.
“We’re excited to begin work to bring this vital corner of the community back to life,” said Walt Rector, the founding principal of Bromont Investments.
Rector, along with investment partner and developer Chris Carlsen, is spearheading the project with investment from New River Valley Investments, a group of business leaders.
The developers plan to announce center tenants starting in January, when work will begin with the demolition of most of the small shops along Peppers Ferry Road. That work will clear space for three restaurants that will be new to the Christiansburg/ Blacksburg metropolitan area.
Also in January, the team will start creating a new entrance for the mall that will connect the mall to North Franklin Street via Shoppers Way. The retail center also will have two new entrances directly onto Peppers Ferry Road.
Construction will begin in March on a freestanding specialty coffee house with a drive-thru, and a retail building that will house national retailers and a nationally known Mexican restaurant that will have a drive-thru facing North Franklin Street. Three additional sit-down restaurants will be constructed along Peppers Ferry.
The development team has begun discussions to resize and relocate the Office Max store within the center to provide space for a successful regional specialty grocery store.
Work will begin in early April on a complete facelift for the existing 19,000-square-feet of retail space on the center’s north side. The development team anticipates having that building 50 percent leased by the end of 2018 with the existing tenants plus two sit-down restaurants, according to Rector.
“We expect the center to open with the majority of its tenants by fall 2019,” Rector said. The grocery store is expected to open in summer 2020, he added.
The back of the center will provide space for nationally known fashion, home goods and sports retailers.
“Our goal is to turn the biggest empty parking lot in the region into a festive and contemporary open-air environment where the community can walk, see friends, and enjoy what retail centers used to bring to the community.
“The new center will need a new name,” Rector said. The developers are seeking ideas from the community to help name the center, and the developers will announce details of the “Rename Marketplace” contest soon.
The project brings together a national team experienced in creating new retail environments, and local leadership – a critical combination for today’s new world of retail.
The Rector/Carlsen team previously developed an office environment in Northern Virginia and retail centers in Richmond and Galax. They have also worked on projects from Maine to Alabama, as well as the Midwest, Texas, and Arizona. Rector has been involved in building or redeveloping 50 retail centers. The former Marketplace property will be his 51st retail project including 28 centers that have been redeveloped and brought back to life.
Financing for the project was arranged by Andrew Pinnington of Northmarque Capital. Northmarque has arranged more than $200 million of Rector’s capital needs since 1991, and arranged for $23 million in financing from Money360 for the Christiansburg project.
The loan provides money for planned renovations and installing new tenants, as well as creating the new entrance off North Franklin Street. This loan also helped Money360 reach their $1 billion total funding goal.
Money360 is a nationwide direct lender that sources, underwrites, closes and services small- to mid-balance commercial real estate loans ranging in size from $3 million to $25 million.
“We would like to thank everyone who has helped with shaping the project including: the town of Christiansburg, the mayor, town council, town manager, The Virginia Department of Transportation, local engineers Steve Semones and James Taylor of Balzer and Associates, BHM, and Kimble-Horn,” Rector said.
“We’d also like to offer special thanks to CCM, III for help with the project’s design.
Charles McLean, the firm’s principal, has been working with me since 1976 and has helped shape the majority of my projects.”
Trey Morgan and Rich Sutphin of The Morgan Company will manage and lease the property.
The mall redevelopment group includes Rector, Carlsen and New River Valley business leaders including Jeanne Stosser of SAS Builders; Gary Duncan of Duncan Dealership; Jennifer West, a Roanoke area real estate investor; Dan Larimer of Block.one; Sheldon Henderson of G&H Contracting, Inc.; and Richard Goodwin, who is involved with a number of property management and real estate development projects.
