What looks like a bleak economy to one person shows up as a golden opportunity to someone else. That's the story behind Paseo Carlsbad, a combination restaurant/specialty-retail center across Paseo del Norte from the Carlsbad Premium Outlets.
The 11-acre project, which features three restaurants: King's Seafood, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, and BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, opened a two-story, 45,000-square-foot specialty-retail center just in time for the 2010 holiday season.
Paseo Carlsbad is now also home to a Corner Bakery Cafe, Elephant Walk Outdoor Footwear, Pretty Please Fashion, Menchies Frozen Yogurt, Color Nails and East of Bali Salon. The developers expect the center to be fully occupied by the end of 2011.
Peter Aylward, president of Strategic Property Advisers, which manages investments for the project's landlord, CPT/SC, said he knew people were skeptical about a new retail venture, but he had faith.
“If you do a good job in building something, after it's successful it looks like it was obvious all along,” said Aylward. He said one of the project's advantages is that the landlord, CPT/SC, the Carpenters Trust pension fund, didn't need financing.
City of Carlsbad staff went the extra mile to help developer PacTen Partners meet critical deadlines to open two separate project components before the 2009 and 2010 holiday seasons, respectively.
Aylward said Paseo Carlsbad's success has prompted his team to take a look at the Holiday Inn property just north of Paseo Carlsbad, which CPT/SC also owns. That property, at Interstate 5 and Palomar Airport Road, is one of the highest-profile commercial sites in the city and ripe for redevelopment. Also, home to T.G.I. Friday's, the site is perhaps best known for the faux windmill that marked the former Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant and hotel that opened there in 1982.
“Now that we've picked ourselves up after Paseo (Carlsbad), we're giving serious study to development on the 11 acres south of King's Fish House,” Aylward said. He added it was premature to discuss any concept in detail. The first step is “to study the economic and physical feasibility of redeveloping that project.”
Paseo Carlsbad is a great example of the city working in partnership with the business community to achieve a common vision.
“We had to earn their (the city's) trust,” Matt Herrill, a principal with developer PacTen Partners, said.
He said it was daunting to receive the city's detailed response to his firm's pre-application document, but it helped expedite the process in the long term.
“They did a good job far beyond anything I would have anticipated from the very beginning,” Herrill said. “To have that up front made it easier and quicker for our group.”
On the city's side, after we settled issues during the entitlement process, we did whatever we could to help PacTen meet construction deadlines and move the project along.
P.F. Chang's and BJ's opened in time for the '09 holiday season, and the specialty-retail center opened for the '10 holidays.
“As we were getting closer to a critical time, we conveyed that to the city and they jumped through some hoops to meet our time constraints.” Herrill said.
Aylward said that the trust built with the city will help his team move forward on the Palomar Airport Road/I-5 site.
“I think the fact that we have a good relationship will make it a lot easier for us to approach the new site,” he said. “They know when we say we're going to do something we'll do it, and conversely when we have to call on them for help from time to time, we can count on them.”
The 11-acre project, which features three restaurants: King's Seafood, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, and BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, opened a two-story, 45,000-square-foot specialty-retail center just in time for the 2010 holiday season.
Paseo Carlsbad is now also home to a Corner Bakery Cafe, Elephant Walk Outdoor Footwear, Pretty Please Fashion, Menchies Frozen Yogurt, Color Nails and East of Bali Salon. The developers expect the center to be fully occupied by the end of 2011.
Peter Aylward, president of Strategic Property Advisers, which manages investments for the project's landlord, CPT/SC, said he knew people were skeptical about a new retail venture, but he had faith.
“If you do a good job in building something, after it's successful it looks like it was obvious all along,” said Aylward. He said one of the project's advantages is that the landlord, CPT/SC, the Carpenters Trust pension fund, didn't need financing.
City of Carlsbad staff went the extra mile to help developer PacTen Partners meet critical deadlines to open two separate project components before the 2009 and 2010 holiday seasons, respectively.
Aylward said Paseo Carlsbad's success has prompted his team to take a look at the Holiday Inn property just north of Paseo Carlsbad, which CPT/SC also owns. That property, at Interstate 5 and Palomar Airport Road, is one of the highest-profile commercial sites in the city and ripe for redevelopment. Also, home to T.G.I. Friday's, the site is perhaps best known for the faux windmill that marked the former Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant and hotel that opened there in 1982.
“Now that we've picked ourselves up after Paseo (Carlsbad), we're giving serious study to development on the 11 acres south of King's Fish House,” Aylward said. He added it was premature to discuss any concept in detail. The first step is “to study the economic and physical feasibility of redeveloping that project.”
Paseo Carlsbad is a great example of the city working in partnership with the business community to achieve a common vision.
“We had to earn their (the city's) trust,” Matt Herrill, a principal with developer PacTen Partners, said.
He said it was daunting to receive the city's detailed response to his firm's pre-application document, but it helped expedite the process in the long term.
“They did a good job far beyond anything I would have anticipated from the very beginning,” Herrill said. “To have that up front made it easier and quicker for our group.”
On the city's side, after we settled issues during the entitlement process, we did whatever we could to help PacTen meet construction deadlines and move the project along.
P.F. Chang's and BJ's opened in time for the '09 holiday season, and the specialty-retail center opened for the '10 holidays.
“As we were getting closer to a critical time, we conveyed that to the city and they jumped through some hoops to meet our time constraints.” Herrill said.
Aylward said that the trust built with the city will help his team move forward on the Palomar Airport Road/I-5 site.
“I think the fact that we have a good relationship will make it a lot easier for us to approach the new site,” he said. “They know when we say we're going to do something we'll do it, and conversely when we have to call on them for help from time to time, we can count on them.”