Easton Town Center
Columbus, Ohio
Project Type:
Commercial/Industrial
Case No:
C030018
Year:
2000
SUMMARY
A 750,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail/entertainment complex located about eight miles from the Columbus, Ohio,
central business district (CBD) but within city limits and within the I-270 beltway. Easton Town Center
(www.Eastontowncenter.Com) is a destination project with a "Main Street" that includes restaurants, a brew pub, a
comedy club, a book superstore, a fitness center, a home furnishings store, a cybercade, more than 50 upscale
boutiques and shops, and a 30-screen Planet Movies cineplex. A centrally located "town square" completes the village
theme, providing an identity for the project and a gathering spot for social activities
FEATURES
An updated "town square" to meet contemporary retail demand
A city grid that reinforces the urban village concept
Mix of open-air and enclosed retail stores in a downtown setting
Easton Town Center
Columbus, Ohio
Project Type: Retail/Entertainment
Volume 30 Number 18
October-December 2000
Case Number: C030018
PROJECT TYPE
A 750,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail/entertainment complex located about
eight miles from the Columbus, Ohio, central business district (CBD) but within
city limits and within the I-270 beltway. Easton Town Center
(www.Eastontowncenter.Com) is a destination project with a "Main Street" that
includes restaurants, a brew pub, a comedy club, a book superstore, a fitness
center, a home furnishings store, a cybercade, more than 50 upscale boutiques
and shops, and a 30-screen Planet Movies cineplex. A centrally located "town
square" completes the village theme, providing an identity for the project and a
gathering spot for social activities.
SPECIAL FEATURES
An updated "town square" to meet contemporary retail demand
A city grid that reinforces the urban village concept
Mix of open-air and enclosed retail stores in a downtown setting
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
DEVELOPERS
Steiner + Associates, Inc.
4016 Townsfair Way
Suite 201
Columbus, Ohio 43219
814-414-7300
www.steiner.com
The Georgetown Company
667 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10021
212-755-2323
The Limited, Inc.
3 Limited Parkway
Columbus, Ohio 43216
614-479-7980
www.limited.com
ARCHITECTS
Development Design Group, Inc.
7 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-962-0505
www.ddg-usa.com
Meacham & Apel Architects, Inc.
6161 Riverside Drive
Suite A
Dublin, Ohio 43017
614-764-0407
PLANNER
Cooper Robertson & Partners
311 West 43rd Street
13th Floor
New York, New York 10036
212-247-1717
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Easton Town Center is a revisitation of the classic American downtown, with a central town square that serves as the
focal point of the community for shopping, dining, entertainment, and socializing. In its design and construction, the
750,000-square-foot complex reflects the nostalgic application of modern retail and leisure-time concepts to a
traditional urban street setting. Traditional building materials include red brick and white-painted trim, and exterior
fixtures such as cast-iron lamp posts define the project’s character. Ceiling heights in enclosed areas were lowered to
13.5 feet to create an appropriate scale and increase the sense of intimacy. The development is pedestrian friendly in
the more traditional town planning sense that it accommodates cars and people alike, with a grid of real streets,
curbside parallel parking with meters, wide sidewalks, and numerous crosswalks and pathways.
The 13 buildings on eight city blocks are not simple facades but real, three-dimensional edifices, organized in city
blocks. Service areas are fully designed and integrated into each building; there is no unsightly "back of the house." A
mix of indoor and outdoor activities that take place year-round is offered: winter, for example, brings holiday
festivities to the town square, which, in the spring, accommodates children playing in the interactive "pop" fountain.
Offices above street-level storefronts not only benefit companies that locate in Easton Town Center but also increase
activity at the second-floor level and add a business component to the traffic through Easton.
Easton Town Center was carefully planned and merchandised. Tenant mix was given the highest priority, while
merchandising informed planning continually so that the project’s architecture and design accommodate modern
retailers’ needs and consumers’ demands. A clear vision of Easton Town Center’s essence—its tenant mix,
merchandising, and spirit—was retained throughout the design, development, and construction stages to
current—and future—operations.
Easton Town Center, which opened in July 1999, has succeeded primarily because it is a real neighborhood center.
The development meets more than simple market demand for branded retail and themed entertainment on the
outskirts of Columbus; it fulfills the community’s need for social interaction. Easton Town Center provides a safe,
urban setting that encourages socializing while it provides a mix of uses, including retail, entertainment, restaurant,
and office space. Free summer concerts on Thursdays and a Saturday morning farmers’ market are just a couple of
the events enjoyed by the community. Garage parking is free of charge; revenue from street meters—in addition to
any "tickets" for parking delinquencies—goes to charities.
In Easton Town Center’s first year, more than 9 million people visited the project; the heavy customer traffic
reportedly has produced extraordinary first-year sales of more than $400 per square foot. Several of the retail stores
and restaurants are the most productive in their chain; many of these tenants are producing well in excess of $600
per square foot, making them the highest-grossing stores in the greater Columbus market. These sales levels have
helped create a project income stream that is producing yields in excess of 12 percent (unleveraged) on project costs
of about $120 million.
DEVELOPMENT
The story of Easton Town Center parallels the story of the Limited, Inc., a multiline retail chain headquartered in
Columbus, Ohio. Both Easton and the Limited are results of the vision of Leslie Wexner, the founder, chairman, and
chief executive officer of the Limited, Inc. In the early 1980s, building on its 18 years of constant growth, the Limited,
Inc., started to operate as a venture capitalist, creating new businesses and purchasing existing specialty retailers. In
this climate, Wexner formed a real estate development unit within the Limited. An early project was the 1,200-acre
country club community of New Albany, just a few miles east of Easton.
In 1986, Wexner started purchasing farmland centered around Morse Road in the northeast quadrant of Columbus
that was within the city limits and just within the I-270 beltway. He envisioned a multiuse development of retail,
office, residential, hotel, and entertainment venues, with the principal goal of establishing a business park for the
Limited’s national headquarters and operations center. The land was a large infill parcel surrounded by low-density
development that had been encouraged by city legislation offering a ten-year, 100 percent abatement of property
taxes for all new development in the area that Wexner came to name Easton. With each purchase of a parcel,
Wexner’s development team had to win zoning approval for conversion from agricultural to commercial use. By the
time Wexner announced the start of construction in early 1996, the fully assembled parcels formed a contiguous
1,200 acres, an area twice the size of the local Ohio State University campus.
Meanwhile, the recession of the early 1990s led to drastic corporate restructuring at the Limited, Inc. As a publicly
traded company focused on maximizing shareholder value, the Limited responded by spinning off its various store
brands as stand-alone businesses and by shedding non-core activities. One of the non-core businesses was Easton, of
which the Limited sold 50 percent to the Georgetown Company of New York as a partner in the development.
Easton and its environs continued to develop during the startup phase. Four million square feet of office space was
constructed by year-end 1995, providing a local and regional presence for Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation,
Price Waterhouse, and M/I Schottenstein Homes and world headquarters for Victoria’s Secret’s catalog distribution
center and the Limited, Inc. The widening of nearby I-270 from six to 12 lanes had begun in anticipation of increased
traffic.
A 35-acre town center had been an integral part of the plan since Easton’s inception as a master-planned community.
By 1996, the desired balance of residential, office, and retail space was sufficiently in place to justify planning the
town center. The development partners began looking for outside expertise in creating a special environment for
Easton. They found it in CoCoWalk, a pioneering $38 million, 145,000-square-foot, three-story retail and
entertainment complex in Coconut Grove, Florida, that had opened in November 1991, attracting 35 tenants within its
first six months of operation. Its developer, Constructa, had stepped in to rescue a faltering project, turning it into a
great financial and critical success. Constructa’s president and project manager for CoCoWalk, Yaromir Steiner, was
invited to re-create CoCoWalk’s magic in Easton. Steiner resigned from Constructa, formed his own development
company, Steiner + Associates, and moved his entire operations to Columbus. Steiner + Associates shares an equity
position in Easton Town Center with the Georgetown Company, the Limited, Inc., and with various private investors,
one of whom is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Steiner + Associates acts as Easton Town Center’s management company,
allowing the Limited to continue its gradual sell-off of non-core assets.
SITE PLANNING AND DESIGN
Wexner brought in Cooper Robertson & Partners to site-plan Easton, and Steiner + Associates had a prior relationship
with Development Design Group. Together they formed a team to review the best of past town center
designs—Country Club Plaza, in Kansas City, Missouri, and Reston Town Center, in Reston, Virginia, among
others—and to extract relevant ideas, improving upon and modifying them.
The development and design team began with a story-board process to identify specific elements that would naturally
be present in a small town: a post office, library, high school, movie theater, etc. The "library" is the Barnes & Noble
superstore, the "high school" houses Life Time Fitness, and the "old" movie theater building now houses a Pottery
Barn store. The result creates the impression that Easton Town Center has evolved over a number of years. The
project’s main atrium, for instance, is reminiscent of a train station. More than just employing a simple station theme,
however, the team designed the area to look as if it were a plaza in front of an abandoned train station that had been
retrofitted with a glass roof. This "back-story" lends a secondary layer of authenticity to the experience of spending
leisure time in a familiar world.
Easton Town Center was designed as a town center with intersecting main streets. Typically, two-story buildings front
these streets on sidewalks with metered parking. The bulk of the parking is provided free in two multilevel parking
garages tucked into the corners of the 33.8-acre parcel. Parking is easy to find, but the surface lots are tucked
between buildings and generally are not visible from the street. Tax-increment financing was procured to offset the
costs of public infrastructure, but otherwise the developers financed the project.
In addition to Easton Town Center, Easton includes Easton Market, a 900,000-square-foot retail center just west of
the town center; Easton Commons, a 700-unit apartment complex just south of the town center; 5 million square feet
of office space; and three hotels: a 310-room Columbus Hilton and Towers, a 120-room Residence Inn by Marriott,
and a 120-room Extended Stay America. Currently under construction is a 40-acre expansion of the town center
concept. Called the Town Center Fashion District, it will be anchored by a 170,000-square-foot Nordstrom store.
TENANTS
Easton Town Center is predicated on offering customers a variety of ways to spend their leisure time. As a lifestyle
center, it has no true anchors. Shops are laid out around a town square and along urban streets. The development
team wanted not just a "Main Street," but a Columbus Main Street. They sought out local restaurateurs to develop
new concepts based on local preferences; two that have succeeded are the Ocean Club and Brio Tuscan Grille, serving
seafood and Italian fare, respectively. Local fast-food providers include Panera Bread and C.V. Wrappers.
Large-format, sit-down restaurants include P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, the Cheesecake Factory, Fado’s Irish Pub, and
Hama Sushi. Planet Hollywood and All-Star Café are located adjacent to the 30-screen multiplex, a partnership of
Planet Hollywood and AMC Theatres. Together, the two companies created a nostalgic theme using authentic props
from movie sets and cars, boats, airplanes, and wardrobe items from famous movies. Planet Hollywood also
introduced a new ice cream shop, Cool Planet, adjacent to the movie theater. Planet Hollywood itself departs from its
usual concept by being more a restaurant where stars would dine than a restaurant about movie stars. Other national
restaurant chains include Johnny Rockets and two Starbucks coffee shops.
Life Time Fitness, a Minneapolis-based health club, leased its own 95,000-square-foot, two-story building to house its
facilities, which in addition to the expected aerobic studios, sauna, and fitness equipment include two swimming
pools, two basketball courts, squash courts, and climbing walls, as well as a child-care facility. Other lifestyle venues
include Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Smith & Hawken, and Restoration Hardware.
Some of the fashion venues include J. Crew, Banana Republic, Gap, Gap Kids, Baby Gap, Ann Taylor, Talbots, Eddie
Bauer, and a first-ever World Foot Locker—and, of course, the Limited, Inc.’s lineup of specialty clothing stores:
Limited, Too; Victoria’s Secret; Abercrombie & Fitch; abercrombie; and Bath and Body Works.
Entertainment venues include Virgin Records Megastore; Jeepers, an indoor amusement park for children; a
35,000-square-foot GameWorks; the Shark Club, a billiards and bowling venue; Columbus’s first-ever, all-night jazz
club, Round Midnight; and Funny Bone Comedy Club. A local entrepreneur has opened a nightclub with a South Beach
theme, and a local theater group performs daily at Shadowbox Cabaret.
EXPERIENCE GAINED
Time was well spent in planning and designing public spaces so that they could handle large crowds during
events but were not so large that there was a vacant feeling when no events were taking place.
Bringing new retail and entertainment names (30 percent of the tenants) to the Columbus market contributed
to the project’s success.
More than 20 local or regional businesses were actively recruited to add to the tenant mix.
Not enough attention was paid to the planning and design of peripheral retail locations.
Easton Town Center’s success has proven that leisure-time destination concepts that worked in southeastern
Florida can be transported to a smaller market, a colder climate, and a suburban location without a large
tourist base.
PROJECT DATA
LAND USE INFORMATION
Current
Planned
expansion
33.8/13.7
40.0/16.2
Office
52,500/4,877
83,178/7,727
Retail (includes theaters, health and fitness center)
672,230/62,450
349,145/32,436
Department stores
0
407,000/37,810
Total gross building area
724,730/67,327
839,323/77,973
Office net rentable area
48,000/4,459
77,000/7,153
Retail gross leasable area
(includes theaters, health and fitness center)
599,865/55,727
314,230/29,192
Floor/area ratio
0.43
Parking
3,800 spaces
Site area (acres/hectares)
Gross building area (square feet/square meters)
Leasable area (square feet/square meters)
2,695 spaces
LAND USE PLAN
Current
Planned expansion
Use
Acres/hectares
Percent of site
Acres/hectares
Percent of site
Buildings
12.25/4.96
36
12.70/5.14
26
Streets, surface
parking, sidewalks
12.05/4.88
36
7.43/11.10
2 58
Landscaping, open
spaces
3.15/1.27
9
5.22/2.11
11
Parking garages
5.79/2.34
17
2.25/0.91
5
Planned building
0.56/0.23
2
Total
33.8/13.68
100
47.58/19.26
100
OFFICE INFORMATION
Percent of net rentable area occupied: 85
Number of tenants: 15
Average tenant size: 3,500 square feet/325 square meters
Annual rents: $16-20 per square foot/$1.49-1.86 per square meter
Average length of lease: Five to ten years
RETAIL INFORMATION
Tenant classification
Number of
stores
Total gross leasable area
(square feet/square meters)
General merchandise
3
7,750/720
Food service
18
75,576/7,021
Clothing and accessories
20
106,297/9,875
Shoes
3
21,165/1,966
Home furnishings
4
28,081/2,609
Home appliances/music
1
22,376/2,079
Hobby/special interest
2
6,675/620
Gift/specialty
6
45,607/4,237
Personal services
1
1,107/103
Recreation/community
8
282,821/26,274
Financial
1
1,044/97
Health and beauty
5
11,366/1,056
Total
72
599,865/55,827
Annual rents: $24-32 per square foot/$2.23-2.97 per square meter
Average annual sales: $444 per square foot/$41.25 per square meter
Average length of lease: Five to ten years
DEVELOPMENT COST INFORMATION
Site acquisition cost: $16,000,000
Site improvement cost: $9,000,000
Construction cost: $78,000,000
Soft cost: $32,000,000
Total development cost: $135,000,000
DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE
Site purchased: 1996
Planning started: October 1996
Sales/leasing started: January 1997
Construction started: June 1998
Phase I completed: June 1999
Phase II completion: August 2001
DIRECTIONS
From Port Columbus International Airport: Take Gateway Boulevard to I-670 east to I-270 north. Exit at Easton (exit
33); at top of off-ramp, go left onto Easton Way. After first traffic light, turn right onto Chagrin Drive, which is Easton
Town Center’s main entrance.
Driving time: Ten minutes in non-peak traffic.
David Takesuye, editor
David Takesuye, report author
Charles Bohl, contributor
Eileen Hughes, managing editor
Joanne Nanez, art/layout
Karrie Underwood, editoral assistant
This Development Case Study is intended as a resource for subscribers in improving the quality of future projects. Data contained
herein were made available by the project's development team and constitute a report on, not an endorsement of, the project by
ULI-the Urban Land Institute.
Copyright © 2000 by ULI-the Urban Land Institute
1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Suite 500 West, Washington D.C. 20007-5201
The 13 buildings of Easton Town Center are organized along intersecting streets and around a central "town square."
The architecture reflects a deliberate mix of materials associated with traditional and contemporary architecture in order
to underscore the storyline that Easton is an urban village that has evolved organically over time, with older buildings
that have undergone modern renovations.
Easton Station, the enclosed portion of the town center, is styled after a Victorian-era train station that has been
renovated for modern use. Thus it combines the familiarity and comfort of traditional architecture with contemporary
retail uses.
Though retail shops are primarily street-oriented, there is an abundance of enclosed spaces, lending variety to the
leisure-time destination experience.
A partnership of AMC Theatres and planet Hollywood produced a prototype for a planet Hollywood at ground level with a
30-screen cineplex on the second level.
The ring road that surrounds the town center is a public thoroughfare; the streets within are private, allowing
management to divert traffic and close off streets to accommodate various events. The upper half of this site plan shows
the 40-acre second phase, to be called the Fashion District. phase II effectively doubles the size of Easton Town Center.