Fashion Place Expands, as Wasatch Front Retail Real Estate Market Blooms

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

At a time when the economy is somewhat troubling for most real estate markets, the retail real estate market along the Wasatch Front is doing well. Deseret News reports that there are four major retail centers expanding or under development.

Fashion Place mall in Murray is currently undergoing a 100,000-square-foot expansion that will include 17 new stores and restaurants once completed. Celeste Dorris, senior general manager for mall owner General Growth Properties, confirmed the optimism of some national retailers regarding Salt Lake Valley’s potential to be a good growth market.

The Fashion Place expansion is among the largest retail developments in the area, alongside the $1 billion City Creek mixed-use project in downtown Salt Lake City. The 20-acre project is estimated to be completed in 2012.

Recent data gathered by Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate shows mid-year 2011 lease rates for retail space have increased in some sub-markets, while area vacancy rates have increased almost 2 percent over 2010. Tyson Moore, retail specialist with Coldwell Banker Commercial, explained that although the overall market is still sluggish, quite a few restaurants and retailers are doing well–and even expanding. However, he warned that unanchored centers are still suffering due to the recession.

In other news, the city of Holladay has requested a $450,000 loan from Salt Lake County. The funds are needed to relocate a culvert at the site of the planned Canyon Slopes Square hotel-restaurant development.

The developer of the project, Sequoia Development Inc., plans a mid- to high-end four-story hotel and 3,000 square feet of meeting space. The $15 million project would generate around $440,000 in revenue to the county each year, according to Councilman Randy Horiuchi.