Free rent! High-end shopping center The Boulevard to host competition for storefront space
by JACOB BARKER for the St. Louis Post Dispatch | January 29th, 2021
RICHMOND HEIGHTS — Following a dismal year for storefronts, one of the St. Louis region’s high-end shopping centers is now offering a little incentive: free rent.
Calling the promotion “Pop Local,” the property management firm of The Boulevard shopping center is asking prospective retailers to send in their ideas for a storefront in the open-air mall, anchored by retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Soft Surroundings. The winner will receive up to three months of free rent in a 1,380-square-foot retail space in the shopping center across Brentwood Boulevard from the Galleria.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on all small businesses, so we see Pop Local as a chance to rebuild in 2021,” Ramzi Hassan, president of The Boulevard co-owner Edwards Realty Co., said in the announcement. “St. Louis has a robust community of creative, dynamic small businesses, and our hope is to fully integrate this new company into our lifestyle center so they will continue operations at The Boulevard indefinitely.”
The promotion shows the struggles property owners have keeping retail spaces filled amid a pandemic that has dried up foot traffic for nonessential stores and accelerated consumers’ already rapid shift to online shopping. Small businesses were hit particularly hard during the coronavirus crisis, and with uncertainty about the pace of vaccinations and the virus’ trajectory still high, signing a new lease isn’t for the faint of heart.
And brokers expect demand and pricing for retail and office space to continue to stagnate, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ outlook for the coming months, while industrial space — filled by the warehouses of online merchants — stays hot.
On Thursday, at least three storefronts at The Boulevard were empty. But two should soon be filled: one, by the Pop Local promotion, and the other by a mortgage company, a business that has been resilient during a recession that has sent interest rates plummeting.
Edwards Realty recently held a similar competition for one of its shopping centers in suburban Chicago, and the company says the first few months of free rent led to the business, an independent jewelry boutique, signing a longer lease.
Applicants for space in The Boulevard don’t need to sign a long-term lease as part of their application. Edwards says the hope is that they choose to begin renting space after growing a clientele and name recognition. The landlord will throw in up to $2,000 for storefront improvements and help with marketing.
Edwards Realty Group and Chicago real estate firm Condor Partners purchased The Boulevard in 2016 from Pace Properties, which had long planned a second phase. The second phase of The Boulevard, just south of the current shops, won a commitment for $15.3 million in tax increment financing from Richmond Heights. Plans originally called for a groundbreaking back in 2018, but no date has been set.
Original article shared on stltoday.com.