The owner of FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield is considering filling the vacant Lord & Taylor space with a hotel or condos.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Macerich Co. bought the 120,000-square-foot store in 2004 after May Co. announced its plans to close its three Lord & Taylor stores – at the Cherry Creek mall in Denver, Park Meadows mall in Douglas County and FlatIron Crossing – as part of a divestiture that included 34 store closings and 3,700 job cuts.
“We wanted to have ownership so we could explore the options,” said Heather Drake, senior marketing manager for FlatIron Crossing. “The trend in shopping centers now is to have mixed use.”
Hotel companies have already agreed to build at two Macerich mall properties in Phoenix.
Hotels near high-end shopping centers tend to do well, said Mike Cahill, president of HREC-Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, a consultant to the hotel industry.
AmeriSuites at Park Meadows and J.W. Marriott in Cherry Creek are two good local examples.
“The J.W. Marriott has blown away all expectations,” Cahill said. “It’s a hotel that came in and is getting average room rates $50 higher than its nearest competitor because of its location.”
If Macerich were to develop a hotel at the shopping center, the facility would need to be upper midscale or high-end, Cahill said.
The 1.5 million-square-foot FlatIron Crossing is a combination indoor and outdoor shopping center that opened in August 2000. Anchors include Nordstrom, Dillard’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The shopping center is 96 percent occupied, having recently added several new tenants, including Apple and Sephora.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
