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Tenants are moving ahead with plans to move into The Village at Towne Centre, but some may open later than originally anticipated.
The first to be ready for business will be The Pub, a British-inspired restaurant that should be up and running about Nov. 1 in Spotsylvania Towne Centre's new lifestyle center. The majority should open in by spring.
"We've not seen anybody who said, 'We're not going to do it,' and walked away from their commitments," said Joe Bell, Cafaro Co. spokesman. "They haven't pulled back, but the whole decision-making process has slowed, so some companies are saying, 'We'd like to be in there by November, but it may be February.'"
Retail and restaurant chains are understandably worried about the availability of credit as the market tightens, he said. And Cafaro, a privately owned real-estate developer and manager of shopping centers nationwide, as well as other landlords, are seeing a general scaling back of expansion plans.
"We've seen this caution flag flying over the retail industry for the last year or so," Bell said. "From what I've heard, a lot of times leasing agents planning to move things along quickly have found that they're being told, 'Our committee has decided to hold off decisions until the end of the year.'"
The list of tenants that are signing leases for the 295,000-square-foot Village at Towne Centre, however, is growing, and Cafaro will have a press conference at the mall in mid-October to announce their names, Bell said.
"It's a very attractive marketplace, and they're excited about the way things are going," Bell said. "It's an attractive place to set up shop, and they like the demographics of the area."
So far, Cafaro has announced that the lifestyle center will have a Residence Inn; a Muvico and Splitsville Lanes 14-screen theater, dining and entertainment complex; and a shopping district with about 35 stores and five or six restaurants including The Pub.
The Pub's location here will be the ninth for the Ohio-based chain. All have exteriors modeled after the classic corner pubs of London, and their interiors include a handcrafted bar from which guests can sample a wide range of English, Scottish and Irish draft beers as well as cask-conditioned and domestic beers.
Other lifestyle center tenants will include Ann Taylor, an Aveda Salon, Barnes & Noble, Cache, J. Crew, Lucky Brand Jeans, Richmond-based Saxon Shoes, Select Comfort, Sephora, and Finks Jewelers, a Roanoke-based chain that carries such brands as Cartier, David Yurman and Mikimoto.
There'll also be a Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill, a Colorado-themed restaurant with a Southwestern ambience offering steaks, chops, rotisserie chicken, seafood and sandwiches. Currently, the closest is in Short Pump Town Center in Richmond.
Other restaurants will include Bravo! Cucina Italiana, which its Web site describes as "a fun, white-tablecloth casual eatery offering great Italian food under a Roman ruin decor." Owned by the same chain that operates Brio Tuscan Grille and Bon Vie Bistro, it will be the third location in the state. The other two are in Arlington and Virginia Beach.
Cafaro also has signed up Bluepoint, which specializes in seafood, steaks and signature martinis.
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com
