CREJ - Retail Properties Quarterly - September 2015
Retail centers thrive on customers coming to their center for services. Often shopping centers encourage new retailers to move - - in, in hopes of drawing more people or a different crowd to the center to provide new opportunities. But, there is another way to successfully draw customers to your center over a competing center – something as simple as creating an inviting landscaping backdrop. Having pleasing, attractive and creative scenery encourages shoppers to visit your center, especially if it is next-door neighbors with the competition and their landscaping isn’t up to par. When thinking in terms of curb appeal, landscaping can send a powerful message about the status of retail centers. Many retailers are focused on interior improvements while overlooking the exterior. The first impression is made outside and great landscaping might just grab the attention of a potential lessee, renter or shopper, while unkempt properties can have the opposite effect. Simply by maintaining the existing turf, plant material and trees, professional exterior landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 percent at selling time, according to Money Magazine. Researchers have found that landscaping can add an estimated 7 percent to an average rental rate for office space, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which also helps increase leasing, renting and selling opportunities. Following are research and statistics compiled by the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association. • Landscaping can increase the resale value of a property by as much as 14 percent; • The speed of the sale of a property can increase by as much as six weeks; and • A landscaped curb can increase property value by 4.4 percent and hedges can add 3.6 percent. Landscape in today’s retail environment has become more vibrant as trees, shrubs, plantings and park-like areas are highlighted throughout the fronts of retail centers. Aggressive landscaping programs for future retail development provides the esthetics shoppers, customers and clients want. Taking a look throughout the Front Range, there are several new retail centers being developed. These new developments are formed in a variety of ways, including repositioning of existing retail centers, performing conversions or even adapting retail centers to an open-air concept. All of this redevelopment is a perfect opportunity for centers to renovate the existing landscape by creating a fresh new look to go along with the new buildings and centers. Centers have many options that haven’t been available before when it comes to freshening sites. From hiring professional firms to create a completely different look, to stimulating the existing landscape, centers need to decide which direction is right for them. One example is Towne Center at Brookhill in Broomfield, which is well on its way to creating a new, fresh look throughout the center by reconfiguring the existing landscape backdrop. The bottom line is that forming beautiful, well-maintained areas within and around shopping centers encourages people to spend more time. Retail centers have the ability to create a sense of place through the use of landscaping resulting in an experience that connects with shoppers.