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The new place for gathering

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published March 10, 2007

TRINITY - In this sprawling collection of upscale suburban neighborhoods, a commercial developer has a novel idea.

Let's get together on Main Street.

No, not an actual Main Street as in downtown New Port Richey, fewer than 10 miles away. Developer Quality Holdings of Florida wants the 3,500 families of Trinity to have a gathering place at Trinity Town Center, the shopping center that broke ground in January at Little Road and Trinity Boulevard.

The Palm Harbor-based developer is promoting the complex of retail shops, offices and restaurants as the "Main Street for the Trinity Community." The shopping center will be built with an almost-idealized downtown in mind, with pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined cobblestone paths, a bandshell, fountains and a signature clock tower.

It is envisioned as a place for people to mingle, to stop by the bank, stick around for lunch, then linger through the shops before relaxing on a sunlit park bench.

"It will have a unifying effect for all the residential developments," said Paul Aiello, vice president of real estate development for Quality Holdings' subsidiary, South Capital Construction.

Trinity Town Center has a handful of its 55 hoped-for tenants lined up, including an upscale tea shop chain called Tealuxe as well as a chocolate shop, a brokerage firm and an independent Italian restaurant. A celebration will be held today featuring live music and a chef cookoff among some of the chefs who may locate there.

The center, along with the proposed Shops at Wiregrass, fall into that ubiquitous category of "lifestyle center." The phrase was first used in 1987 by developers Poag & McEwen to describe their open-air mall in Memphis, Tenn. Since then, the definition has become fairly elastic as all sorts of malls lay claim to it.

The typical "pure" lifestyle center has no big anchor store but lots of upscale restaurants and shops, including chains like Ann Taylor, Williams-Sonoma or Pottery Barn. The open-air centers are much cheaper to build and maintain than regional indoor shopping malls, which have struggled to stay afloat against the megamalls, said Purdue University retail management professor Richard Feinberg. Back in the 1950s, he noted, indoor shopping malls also promoted themselves as community gathering places.

At a time when real downtowns often struggle to attract retail, what makes developers want to "recreate" one? Because these new downtowns can count on a well-to-do customer base. The centers are almost always located near relatively affluent residential neighborhoods, says the International Council on Shopping Centers.

Indeed, Aiello said the typical income of the surrounding communities is a significant part of what attracted them. In 2006, the average household income in a 3-mile radius of the center was a little more than $73,000, the company's marketing materials say.

"We've been very selective. We want it to be an upscale center," said Bill Calary of CB Richard Ellis in Tampa, which is recruiting retail for the project. "This is going to be the main gathering place for Trinity."

Downtown redevelopment advocates often see such projects as creating faux public places at the expense of actual downtowns. In New Port Richey, for instance, the storyline has been the difficulty attracting and keeping retail businesses. One gift shop, Turtle's Nest, is about to leave for another shopping center in Trinity.

"This is the new mall, trying to create a sense of place," said Florida Main Street coordinator Joan Jefferson. "We're hoping people will still go to the real downtown, with its historical and cultural character."

Aiello said he didn't think Trinity's downtown would have much effect on New Port Richey's because they are drawing on different markets. His company has something riding on that theory: Quality Holdings is also considering a mixed-use project on Orange Lake, in New Port Richey's downtown.

Fast Facts:

The plan: It soon will be the place to be

Trinity Town Center includes 15 buildings and a three-level, 389-space parking garage as well as an additional 456-space parking lot. Counting retail, dining and office space, the project totals 196,000 square feet. The first shops and restaurants will open in October, and the entire project is expected to be completed by August 2008. Today's public celebration at the site features food and music and runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 00:05:29]