Peninsula Town Center officials on Tuesday announced 43 stores that signed leases for the development and started a countdown to the March 11 grand opening.
Six of the stores or restaurants are new to Virginia. Four are new to Hampton Roads. Eleven are new to the Peninsula. Many of them plan to open in time for the March 11 grand opening.
The Peninsula Town Center is the development replacing the former Coliseum Mall, which struggled with high vacancy and low shopper turnout in recent years. So the owner decided to demolish it and build a "town center" mimicking downtowns of old. The development mixes retail, office and residential components to create a destination where people can live, work and socialize.
Several stores and restaurants are already open in the under-construction development, which is designed to offer something for everyone, from free Saturdays in the Square events for families to higher-end stores, such as Shoe Woo, a new store concept that's only found in the New York City area.
New restaurants include Bensi Ristorante Italiano, which has 20-some locations along the East Coast. This will be its first Virginia location. It will overlook the park-like Town Square area, along with The Wine Loft, a wine bar and cafe that's new to the Hampton Roads area.
Other retailers new to the Hampton Roads area include dELIA*s, specializing in junior women's apparel, and Q Barbeque, based in Richmond.
Stores new to the Peninsula include Bakers -- it'll be the women's shoe store's only opening in 2010 -- Build-A-Bear Workshop, Cache, Charming Charlie, Emerson's Cigars, H&M, Hollister, JoJack's Espresso Cafe and The Limited.
Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy, which has a location in Chesapeake, will locate in a building across from the building housing Chipotle and bd's Mongolian Grill. Between the two buildings will be a courtyard of outdoor restaurant seating and strung with lights. It's designed to be the center of night life in the development, Tripp said.
Restaurant leasing was the strongest, said Karen Smith, the project's marketing director.
"We needed restaurants in Hampton," Smith said. "We really did. There was such a lack."
Part of Tuesday's announcement included a countdown to March 11. City officials started a giant clock that will count down to the retail grand opening. Two other giant countdown clocks were also set up on the grounds of the development.
The project started before the financial and economic meltdown, so the project's financing was in place before the credit freeze-up. But the recession slowed leasing here and across the U.S.
"When we first started, it took a little bit of time and effort to get the nationals to come and see you," said Raymond Tripp, the project's general manager.
"More courting than the old days," added Karen Smith, the project's marketing director.
What worked was helicopter rides, which aren't cheap. By helicopter, Peninsula Town Center officials showed the multiple access points to the development, including Interstates 64 and 664, Mercury Boulevard and Hampton Roads Center Parkway, Tripp said.
With the 40-some stores announced Tuesday, the retail portion of the development will be 65 to 70 percent leased. As for residential, only seven of the 158 apartments are left at the upscale Chapman apartments. There's room for more residential, but nothing's planned yet, Tripp said.
