Great places need enough residences

Developed by Woodbine Development Corporation and now fully owned by Macerich, Kierland Commons is a very successful and award winning project. It’s retail spaces are well-leased and has heavy volumes of very diverse, multi-cultural and high-end traffic. For the residential units it has a great sales team led by Bill Hammond of Signature Properties and they are offering a terrific residential product. The amenities, quality, unique design, mountain views and finishes exceeded my expectations. However, I am not sure this is the place where I would want to purchase a home. Although I am a strong supporter, investor, and promoter of building residential into large-scale retail projects, I believe there is one critical element to this concept that was missed at Kierland Commons - and its perhaps not the developer's fault. In order to create a sustainable residential neighborhood and a place that feels like home, it is important to create enough residences to build value around each other. The 84 units at Kierland Commons seems to be floating in the middle of a mall, with no real hopes for neighborhood expansion. With such a small number of units, it makes me wonder if the residential will always be a second class “tenant” dominated by the retail space? It’s a fantastic place and I wish more units could be incorporated there. I am not sure if the 84 units was negotiated by strict zoning guidelines. However, this project demonstrates the effects of building too few units in a major retail center. A critical mass of residential units (at least 200) and at enough density (at least 25/acre) are critically important. I could see this being a great hotel location, a place to spend a night away near the shops and dining, but a long term residential commitment with so few neighbors seems less likely. Just like the retail space in a new development needs a critical mass of shops, the residential product needs to have enough people living there to build a true neighborhood. It creates stability and adds more long-term value.