Monday, Nov. 19 2012 5:43PM
SHOPPING
All’s fair in Lee’s Summit
SummitWoods’ occupancy full, Summit Fair close with 92%
By Toriano Porter
tporter@lsjournal.com
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closeAs Thanksgiving Day approaches, and the holiday gift-buying season gets underway, two retail areas in Lee’s Summit are seeing the fruits of labor from the spending public.
SummitWoods Crossing and Summit Fair are enjoying close to 100 a percent occupancy rate despite an economic downturn that began in earnest nearly five years ago.
In fact, SummitWoods Crossing is completely full, and Summit Fair has an occupancy rate on constructed buildings of 92 percent after the recent openings of Freebird’s World Burritos, White House/Black Market, Chico’s and Prairie Soap Company, a handmade, natural soap company owned by a Lee’s Summit Family.
“We are very excited during the holidays that we have four new tenants that we are excited about,” said Cassie Lane of Red Development. Lane is the general manger of Red Development’s Summit Fair and SummitWoods Crossing. “We’re negotiating about another 8,000 square feet of leases we hope to come out pretty soon. Sales are up over the prior year, so things are looking up.”
According to Conrad Lamb, finance director for the city of Lee’s Summit, sales tax revenue from Summit Fair has contributed $2.5 million to the city’s coffers from July 31, 2009 to June of this year.
SummitWoods Crossing, located along Chipman Road and the south side of Missouri Highway 50, has generated $33.8 million in sales tax revenue since it opened in 2001.
“They are tracking fairly close to projections,” Lamb said of SummitWoods Crossing.
Added Lane: “The success of the shopping center speaks volumes to potential tenants. That’s what people look for and SummitWoods has been a very successful center.”
Opening in the midst of a recession, Summit Fair was at one point the subject of scrutiny. Now, nearly 100 percent occupied, both Lane and Lamb extolled the virtues of the project.
“I think it was something that was needed for Lee’s Summit,” Lane said of Summit Fair near Chipman Road and the north side of Highway 50. “I think we have a really great tenant mix. It’s a great addition to the community…Summit Fair opened in a really difficult economic time. We feel like the tenant mix is strong. That speaks volumes about our company and the leasing team.”
Added Lamb: “It’s been very good to have this shopping center open up during a recession and continue to make their projections.”
With Black Friday – America’s annual shopping extravaganza the day after Thanksgiving – on the horizon, Lane said she expects both retail areas to be hopping mad with activity from here to the end of the year. It is her hope hat the activity won’t stop there.
Combined Summit Fair and SummitWoods Crossing generated $2.65 million in sales tax revenue for the city of Lee’s Summit in 2011, Lane said.
“They are great,” Lane said of working with the city of Lee’s Summit. “They have made such a great community partner. They’re tremendous. They have been a great advocate for both shopping centers. I have nothing but nice things to say about them.”
