Restaurants, Stores to Open at Rochester Plaza

By ADAM D. KRAUSS
akrauss@fosters.com
Article Date: Wednesday, December 26, 2007

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Shoppes will see a flurry of store and restaurant openings beginning in the spring, the plaza's developer said last week.

The Wilder Companies is looking for sporting goods, home electronics, cell phone, card and gift and service-oriented businesses — like a dentist or optometrist — to fill the remaining space, along with up to four restaurants, including two that are nationally known, principal Tom Wilder said.

Buildings for the national eateries have not yet been built, he said.

"We're targeting a unique mix," he said. "We're pleased with where we are, and we're hoping in the next few months to make some key announcements."

One or two of the restaurants will be sit-down and family-oriented, while the others, Wilder said, will be "quick, casual" — "it's not fast food, but it's self service," something like the Panera Bread that can be found at other Wilder locations.

The developer expects restaurants to attract more nighttime traffic to balance customer trips that begin early in the day at Starbucks, located in the center of the 305,000-square-foot plaza.

Announcements are expected in the next 60 to 90 days, but openings won't take place until the spring and summer, or in the late summer or fall for the restaurants, Wilder said.

The plaza, advertised as open-air and pedestrian-friendly, looks to make shopping convenient by accommodating combined trips, Wilder said.

Three months after opening, the 305,000-square-foot plaza is at 90-percent capacity thanks to interest generated around the plaza's anchor, Kohl's, Wilder said.

"The reception has been great," he said.

He said his company has commitments from stores to fill up to 80 percent of the remaining space. There's also been interest from 15,000-square-foot "junior anchors," he said.

If one that size moves in, it could take up restaurant space and move an eatery inside other space, within a bank of eight storefronts that includes the just-opened Mattress Giant, he said.

Already set up are Lowe's, Famous Footwear, Fashion Bug and maurices.

The Wilder Companies, with joint venture partner O'Connor Capital Partners, acquired the Shoppes from The Flatley Company as part of a $500 million deal to buy 10 of Flatley's retail centers.

The Wilder Companies, which also developed The Loop in Methuen, Mass., has 50 properties in its portfolio, including spots in New Jersey, Connecticut, Chicago and Florida.

The Flatley Company still is responsible for developing the Staples-anchored Rochester Shoppes East just down the street, but that, too, is expected to change hands, Wilder said.