Retail plan on hold at college site - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The King of Prussia, Pa., developer and of Baltimorre signed a ground lease with the college in 1999 and vowed tobuild 100,000 square feet of shopd and restaurants as part of the $110 million office, hotel and parkinvg center known as Lockwood Place. But since that time, the developers have scaled backthe project, relinquishing the idea of a beginning only preliminary work on the parkiny garage, and, now, puttingh the retail portion on hold. James D. Tschechtelin, president of Baltimorew City Community College, acknowledged the delay, but said he coulc make few comments untilthe school's developmengt committee reviews a recent letter from Kravco Co. "The eventse of Sept.
11 and the attack on America have changede a lotof things," he said. T. Courtenay Jenkinsx III, a senior vice president with TrammellCrow Co., whichh is assisting with the office development, said Kravco'sa recent decision should not affecf the overall health of the project. "Kravclo is just delaying the start date with the Jenkins said. "It's no big deal. With 9-11 and the you don't want to open up a retaiol development with less than afull Retailers, including national chains, are reluctant to debut new storee in a tough economy. Sales at 80 of the country'e regional malls dropped 3.2 percentr from Nov. 23 through Dec.
9, according to the Internationapl Council ofShopping Centers. The numbers exclude sales at department stores and othe rmall anchors. Despite the postponement of the Lockwood retail Jenkins said he expects ground on the office towerd to be broken in even if a lead tenant has notbeen secured. By the time the offices portion isunder construction, the retaip sector may have rebounded, allowing for that part of the developmentr to get under way, he said. "It's turning out to be a phasedc project," Jenkins said.
When the Statse Board of Public Workas approvedthe 50-year ground lease betweenn the college and the developers in late 1999, the schoop sent out a press release explaininv why it selected the Kravco plan. The second of four reasons states, "It was the only proposalk planned to be completed in one Signs on the site originallh said construction would begin inSprin 2001. Site work on the the first phase ofthe project, starterd in the late fall. But, regardless of the Baltimore City Community College is stillkguaranteed $1.1 million a year before escalationm under the terms of the ground lease.
The schoo is also entitled to 2 percent of grossarents "after build out," Tschechtelin It is this revenue that the college coulr lose if the project is not completedd as promised. Initial plans caller for 244,500 square feet of offices space, 100,000 square feet of retai l space, a 250-room hotel and a 700-spacee parking garage on the 2.8-acrer college site bounded by Market Place, Gay and Pratt streets. Many real estatw experts question whether the site will ever amount to more than a parkinh garage as the need for commercial space continuesxto shrink. Neither Wayne L. Snyder, chairman of Kravco Co.
, nor Theo Rodgers, presiden t of A&R Development, could be reached for