Mixed-Use Development? How about a Mixed-Use City!

(Images from Bizjournals)

Steinberg Architects, a California based firm with an international office in Shanghai has been awarded an astonishing 75 million sf project in Changsha, China.

Although considered a mixed-use project, that would be a major understatement.  What Steinberg will be creating is nothing short of a city that will transform 7,000 acres into a new home for thousands of homes and businesses along the Xiang River.

As reported by Bizjournals, the project will be known as Changsha Songya Hu, and will consist of:

            ~ 63 million sf of residential

            ~ 5.5 million sf of office space

            ~ 4 million sf of commercial space

            ~ 1 million sf of hotel space

            ~ 1.5 million sf of community space

Other amenities included in the project are a waterfront business district and an entertainment district.

DC Introduces The Yards

(All Images above from The Yards website)

The Capital Riverfront district is a 500 acre area south of the United States Capitol on the Anacostia River that includes the Nationals Park (baseball) and the Washington Navy Yard.  Forty-Two acres of these post industrial parcels will be transformed into a mixed-use waterfront development called The Yards in the coming months and years.

The area The Yards inhabits was formerly known as the Navy Yard Annex as it sits adjacent to the Washington Navy Yard.  It has had many uses since its founding in 1799 including the original port of the U.S. Navy, a wharf where many ships delivered raw materials, light industrial business, as well as playing key roles in the British, Spanish-American, and both World Wars.  The multitude of buildings including warehouses, manufacturing, as well as many other buildings that have historic significance will be renovated for housing, retail, office, and entertainment venues.

2012 Olympics, of Retail Development: Westfield Stratford City is Off to a Fast Start

(All Images Above from Westfield's Website)

Aside from thousands of athletes and visitors, the Olympics bring unprecedented development to the host city. Sports venues, the Olympic Village, infrastructure and transportation improvements are planned years in advance and begin to take shape as the opening day draws near. 

To capitalize on the millions of visitors and the international spotlight the Olympics generate, developers have been equally busy planning and building retail developments to serve those visitors and claim a piece of the economic pie. Visa, in its London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Expenditure and Economic Impact report estimates that the 2012 Olympics could generate in excess of $1 Billion in additional consumer spending and those dollars, pounds, euros, and countless other currencies will be spent lodging, shopping and eating in these strategically placed developments.

Retail Development Meets LEGO KidsFest

(Jordan)

Editor’s Note:  I will be traveling to India to work for a week so in my place, my 10 year old son Jordan will be taking over the blog for a post.


Hi, Jordan here.  I know that my dad really likes retail development but I also know he LOVES LEGO.  So I wanted to let all you guys know, there are two LEGO KidsFests left this year.  One is in Cleveland, OH and the last one is in Hartford, CT.  

(Image from LEGO KidsFest Website)

Union Village, $1.5 Billion for Retail Medical Mixed-Use

(All Images from Union Village Website)

All Things Retail Development has covered a lot of territory in our first year of reporting Mixed-Use centers all over the world, but here is a new twist on “Mixed-Use”: a $1.5 Billion, 150 acre medical and retail complex planned for Henderson, Nevada.

The project, first announced in April of this year, is called Union Village and will be one of the first such integrated “health villages” in the nation.  The project will be made up of 4 different components as described in this article from the Las Vegas Sun: