[Sly Fox]

Phase One for Crossroads Colonnade

posted 7:05 pm Sat July 12, 2008 - Campbell Co.,VA

The beginning stages for Crossroads Colonnade- a major shopping center- is scheduled to begin on Monday. Phase one will be the installation of a four-lane bridge, connecting U.S. 29 with another part of campus, allowing easier access to the future shopping center. The construction on Monday will begin near the airport entrance on U-S. 29. Crossroads Colonnade is not set to open until 2011.

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[LUconn]

didn't they just say they were postponing it indefinitely like 3 weeks ago? Guess they got the money rolling again.

[flamesbball84]

is this the one that's supposed to be basically a replacement for the mall or something different?

[badger74]

I was back in the Burg last week and River Ridge Mall seemed busy and pretty well leased. Getting Macy's was great. I don't think it's going anywhere. I've seen much worse survive.

[JDUB]

its well leased until the anchors move to Crossroads Colonade. Then River Ridge will be a ghost town waiting to be donated to LU..

[badger74]

Who has signed to move and why would they? They probably have rents so low no new project could match them with below market options well into another 25 years.

[Sly Fox]

I agree with your premise, badger. But traffic in the mall has continued to slide and that should only accelerate once CC opens up. I have a feeling most of those smaller stores on 1-year leases will be vacating as fast as they can. But it will be interesting indeed to see how negotiations go with the anchor stores. It might be an opportunity for another retailer to sneak and grab marketshare if one of the anchor stores decides to stay put in River Ridge.

[JDUB]

I have no inside info. I'm just speaking from what I've always seen. I'm sure the new mall would have a Macy's and a Belks, because all nice malls do. And I don't see Macy's having 2 locations within 5 miles of each other. I could be wrong, but we'll see what happens

[Sly Fox]

Does anyone smell Dillards lurking? *sniff* *sniff*

[ATrain]

Does anyone smell Dillards lurking? *sniff* *sniff*

I've been thinking the same thing, that Lynchburg may get some new department stores: Dillard's, Bloomingdale's, etc...
I don't see Belk, JCPenny, Sears or Macy's moving, especially with the new theater that is coming to River Ridge.

[Sly Fox]

Penny's may move ... but not to the new mall. They are building stand-alones and ditching the mall concept in most places these days competing against Kohls and the like.

We have a Crossroads-type mall being built by my house. It is being anchored by Niemann-Marcus and then the rest are all smaller specialty shops. You don't need many anchors if they are quality in order to attract traffic. The River Ridge-esque mall nearby is tearing down their vacant anchor stores one at a time. Retail is clearly undergoing a metamorphosis.

[flamesbball84]

more stores like Kohl's would be nice. the clothing for the most part is reasonably priced, not ridiculously expensive like that A&F garbage...

turn on the homerun derby, grady sizemore is hitting some big ones.

[RagingTireFire]

Who has signed to move and why would they? They probably have rents so low no new project could match them with below market options well into another 25 years.

When I worked in River Ridge Mall waaay back in the day, their store and individual merchant rate was exorbitantly high for the Lynchburg market. At the time, the mall admin's attitude was that lowering rent was pretty much beneath them. Unless the mall has changed ownership, I doubt that this would have changed.

[badger74]

I was talking about anchor rents, not shops. Yes shops in mall get hosed and the costs for an enclosed mall run higher than an open mall concept by 200%. RR also needs a bit of a facelift but that's getting tough with flat rents and sales. Still it does not look or smell like a dying mall and I have seen many of them. The new theater and a $5,000,000 freshening would work wonders. Any new mall is going to need around $15-$20 psf NNN from the small shops to pencil out. I think RR can match that and still make money due to their low cost basis..

[Sly Fox]

I think much of River Ridge's staying power has been based on its sole possession of the market in a thriving area. It will be interesting to see how it handles a real challenge for the first time in a quarter century.

[rogers3]

In a time when retailers are getting hammered for over-expansion, it will also be interesting to see how committed AIG is to putting money into a large retail project, especially in a time when credit is tight. If I owned the mall, I would capitalize on the new cinema and do a major facelift.

[bigsmooth]

i could see a dillard's as an anchor tenant and you have to figure that macy's, or jc penney, or maybe even sears would move. if this development is made up like a town center type of deal "anchor" stores are not really necessary. i would think you would see stores like crate and barrel, banana republic, williams-sonoma, and maybe even nordstrom, so that this mall would be a regional shopping center. gone are the days of enclosed malls. open air town centers seem to be the norm.

[Hold My Own]

The mall will not be open in 5 years...i'm 99.9% sure of that...the only reason I have backed down from 100% is b/c of the new movie theater coming in...that really baffled me...store after store have left the mall waiting for the new CC...I dont know what that theater was thinking....

[LUconn]

a brand new movie theater only gave you .1% chance of hope? I think that's pretty huge. I don't think Regal or whoever is moving in would have chose the mall without doing a little research first.

[SuperJon]

With the new theater going in, that mall is going to live for a while longer. It may not be what it is now with the stores it has in it now, but it's still going to be there and have a place to go shopping. With a school as big as Liberty, and a huge theater (the ONLY theater in town worth a crap) anchoring it, people will go there. To think otherwise is just being short sited. Before the theater went in I thought it was done, but now that the theater is going in that changes everything. Will the higher end retail stuff move? Probably. You'll still see things like Game Stop, the sports collectible stores, and things like that say there. Some stores just don't fit in the concept of the new mall. A store like Spencer's, or Gadzooks, or Hot Topic wouldn't go in the new mall but would be able to thrive in the current mall. Not everyone likes shopping on the high end which is what this new mall is going to be.

[Rocketfan]

With the new theater going in, that mall is going to live for a while longer. It may not be what it is now with the stores it has in it now, but it's still going to be there and have a place to go shopping. With a school as big as Liberty, and a huge theater (the ONLY theater in town worth a crap) anchoring it, people will go there. To think otherwise is just being short sited. Before the theater went in I thought it was done, but now that the theater is going in that changes everything. Will the higher end retail stuff move? Probably. You'll still see things like Game Stop, the sports collectible stores, and things like that say there. Some stores just don't fit in the concept of the new mall. A store like Spencer's, or Gadzooks, or Hot Topic wouldn't go in the new mall but would be able to thrive in the current mall. Not everyone likes shopping on the high end which is what this new mall is going to be.

But you also have to consider this....if the person who owns the mall is used to charging premium rent of all stores but has to change his business plan due to circumstances beyond his control.....what happens?? He looks to sell and cash out because the profits will probably be cut in half with the smaller stores being the only staple.....in which case i can see a donation in our future.

The Regal probably moved there as it saw a huge want for a stadium seat theater but the lakeside place lost that major investor and who knows if that would recover. Plus the regal knows it has at least 2+ years of 0 competition in town. If you think about how many people watch movies at the two crappy places (mall and downtown) this town can support more than 1 Regal or Carmike pretty easily.

[Hold My Own]

have they began construction on that yet?

[Sly Fox]

I thought theatres in malls were relics of the past. I admit I still find that move baffling. Perhaps the mall's ownership recognized their predicament and gave such great concessions to the theatre company that they really felt compelled to hang with the dinosaurs.

[rogers3]

I thought theaters in malls were relics of the past. I admit I still find that move baffling. Perhaps the mall's ownership recognized their predicament and gave such great concessions to the theater company that they really felt compelled to hang with the dinosaurs.

Regal opened a 14 screen theater in the New River Valley Mall recently, so around here Regal hasn't stopped developing in Malls.
In regards to River Ridge rents, the owners would be in the enviable position of competing with a mall that would have to have much higher rents than an existing 26 year old facility. I sure would like to see just how many of these companies that have been mentioned as new tenants for Crossroads are in an expansion mode this year or in the foreseeable future. From what I've read, Steve and Barry's downfall is just the beginning of a severe downturn in retail expansion.

[Hold My Own]

I dont know where they are in the process...so maybe it's not possible...but I wouldnt be shocked if we didnt see this Regal actually go in where they are talking...we've all see deals break last minute



This is just a VERY bad decision by Regal if they continue to go through with it