California Centers

AUG 2016

California Centers Magazine serves retailers, developers, shopping center owners, investment sales brokers and tenant representation firms throughout the state of California.

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26 California Centers Magazine | August 2016 C C ifornians don't put forth all that effort at Soul Cycle for nothing. Which is why the right restaurant tenants are of the utmost importance to strip center owners. "Consumers are demanding inter- esting and unique concepts within the realm of food that provide healthy alternatives to the traditional fast food, but still provide the ease and convenience of the QSR [quick-ser- vice restaurant] concepts," Wong continues. "Retail owners are turn- ing to more refined fast-casual dining options, such as the Tender Greens, Lemonade, Pieology, and new burger concepts like Hop Doddy and Burger Lounge. We anticipate this trend will continue, and fast-casual dining op- tions throughout strip centers will see significant growth over the next sever- al years. The co-tenancy of this catego- ry will also increase." This increase in co-tenancy is once again attributed to the cohesive, com- plementary vibe landlords are hoping to achieve, as Wong explains. "Everyone likes to be with their 'friends,'" he says. "This is the same mentality with ten- ants. The foodie restaurant wants to be with other foodie restaurants and clus- ter together. Strong examples of this are the many new food halls that are pop- ping up all over the country and in our backyard in Cali- fornia. The success of these food halls has prompted landlords to include them in their strip centers and malls." Though many restaurants that rely on fresh, locally sourced ingredients are doing well throughout the state, Rivera points to one concept that's currently blowing it out of the water, so to speak. "Poke is an exciting new QSR con- cept," he notes of the raw fish salad popular in Hawaiian cuisine. "The take-out, QSR nature of the poke con- cept makes this an ideal fit for strip and neighborhood centers. As such, transaction volume in this category is expected to surge over the next 12 to 24 months." The new poke trend is similar to Chipotle where you build your own bowl, but with a Hawaiian flare. In- stead of Mexican-themed ingredients, raw fish lovers select their vegetables and other fresh fare from a food bar that are combined into bowls or plat- ters. "There's an enormous buzz sur- rounding the poke concept, and many deals are pending," Rivera continues. "Additionally, many poke operators are current and former successful franchise owners looking to devel- op a restaurant concept they can po- tentially franchise themselves. And most of these operators are employing business plans that call for opening a minimum of five stores in their initial launch." Michael Pakravan of Kennedy Wil- son recently represented three fast-ca- sual poke restaurants in Los Ange- les-area lease negotiations alone. Hoke Poke signed a 10-year lease for 1,200 square feet of space at 801 Hope Newmark Merrill's 80,000-square-foot Bristol Warner Village in Santa Ana is home to a mix of more than 20 retailers. W H A T ' S B U G G I N ' Y O U ? Pest Control for Professionally Managed Properties OFFICE RETAIL INDUSTRIAL RESIDENTIAL Eco-Friendly Solutions | Serving Southern California Pest Control Pigeon Control Termite Control Rodent Control Bee Control Gopher Control 1.877.522.2377 | www.AccessExt.com

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