West Broad Village trying to fill vacant space

Nearly a year after the first store opened and in the midst of a major economic downturn, West Broad Village in western Henrico County has run into problems finding retail and commercial tenants.

Empty storefronts line the main portion of the project, which includes space for shops, offices, apartments and homes. Walking through the development, residents and visitors are struck by the emptiness.

A couple of tenants, including Books-A-Million and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, have pulled out.

Roughly a quarter of the project's 350,000 square feet of retail space is opened.

And hardly any of the planned 600,000 square feet of office space has been leased.

"Transactions like West Broad Village are put together with projections that don't take into account anything like what transpired during the last part of the project's construction period," said Andrew Little, an investment banker with John B. Levy & Co. in Richmond.

"Every retailer is looking for any excuse to renegotiate or back out of their lease," he said. "The project can certainly recover because it is a fantastic location, but it will be a fine balancing act to get good tenants in there at reasonable rates to stabilize the property and maximize the value."

Despite the setbacks, West Broad Village continues to trudge along with two large tenants set to open in the next two months. And leasing activity is strong for the project's 339 apartments.

Hoping to boost the center's retail and office leasing opportunities, Orlando, Fla.-based Unicorp National Developments, the project's developers, have hired The Wilton Cos. The Henrico-based real estate brokerage firm is at least the third company to handle leasing for the center.

"They made a good decision in hiring Wilton," Little said.

But now the broker needs to work to fill vacant space, he said.

"It takes time to put a project like this together," said B. Hunt Gunter, Wilton's vice president. "But we're accomplishing the live/work/play objectives of this project."

Gunter believes it could be five years before West Broad Village is completed.

In the short run, home-furnishings retailer HomeGoods is expected to open next month near Whole Foods. Outdoors outfitter Recreational Equipment Inc., known as REI, is set to open in November.

It's Hip to be Round, an upscale maternity clothing shop that has a store in Carytown, expects to open this month.

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But as those retailers come on board, others have backed out.

Books-A-Million has terminated its lease, said Bear Burnett, real estate director for the bookstore chain.

West Broad Village's inability to find tenants, he said, doomed the deal for the time being. Books-A-Million would consider the center again if developers approached the chain with an updated plan.

Like most retailers in this economy, Books-A-Million is careful about where it opens stores, Burnett said.

"We know how hard it is," he said. "The economy is hurting us, and it's hurting them."

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant also backed out and will not open in the center. Keagan's Pub will take its place on the street level of the building where the Aloft hotel occupies the upper floors.

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, a high-end seafood and chophouse restaurant, is still under contract, but it is unclear when it will open or what format it will use. Its building has yet to be constructed. The company has not returned repeated calls for comment for months.

And Old Navy has held off opening its store in the center.

In the middle of West Broad Village is a main street component, which has the feel of a village center with shops and restaurants on the street level and apartments and office space above the shops.

At the rear of the project are single-family town houses under construction. A large swath of the area reserved for the homes is an empty field with pipes shooting out of the ground waiting for construction crews.

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The retail portion of the project has a bright future, Gunter said.

At least seven tenants have signed letters of intent to set up shop, he said. His firm is negotiating with two companies that could come in as anchor stores. He would not identify the companies involved.

The time between when an anchor tenant is signed and when that store opens is about two years, he said.

Leasing office space has been a struggle because of the glut of available space in the area, particularly in Innsbrook, which is less than a mile east.

"There is so much vacancy in Innsbrook that prices have started to come down," Gunter said, referring to West Broad Village and other office space throughout the area.

Gunter said there has been some interest in the office space, but it has been difficult so far to find tenants. But West Broad Village did sign South University, which took about 30,000 square feet, and a law firm will lease about 2,500 square feet.

One component of the development that is doing well is The Flats at West Broad Village apartments.

The apartments are in three separate buildings in the development.

The first one, in the heart of the project, is fully rented with 120 units. The second building, which opened about a month and half ago near Dave & Buster's, has nearly 30 percent of its 132 units leased.

The third apartment building won't open until the other two are fully leased.

But for some residents, the setbacks haven't held them back.

Dennis Corrado, president of South University's Richmond campus, has lived in the apartments for about five months.

"This is a prime location," he said. "It offers all the conveniences you're looking for."

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .