Design Leaders for 2nd & Broad Office are on the Move!



Design Leaders for CSHQA's new Boise office at 2nd & Broad



Project Leaders for the New CSHQA Office:  Mandie Brozo, Architecture; Nicole Cecil, ASID, Interior Design; Ted Isbell, AIA, Project Architect; Dan Pirc, Electrical Engineering; Jeff Ward, PE, Civil Engineering; Jay Romlein, RCDD/OSP, Telecommunications Engineering; Russ Pratt, PE, Mechanical Engineering.  Not pictured:  Kyle Hemly, ASLA, Landscape Architect, Tim Higley, PMP, Project and Relocation Manager Extraordinaire!

Moving day is almost here.  Our scheduled day is Friday, July 19 and the people pictured above are very busy seeing to the last details.  A six-month retrofit schedule is coming down to the wire with experienced builders, vendors, utilities employees and permitting authorities all doing their part.

We started with a rough and ready warehouse with good bones and now we’re less than a month away from a high performance office building with outstanding features.  Cosmetic surgeons have nothing on this team!  I asked the design leaders what element they are most looking forward to seeing and using in the new building:

Ted – The daylight, the environment and bringing everyone together in one space.

Mandie – Daylighting, and a more open space for collaboration.

Russ – Radiant heating and cooling!

Dan – Daylighting and dimmers on lamps for every-day energy efficiency.

Jay – The ‘El Commo Cave’, the electrical and telecom room to delight any engineer!

Jeff – Permeable pavers that improve drainage on Broad Street and reduce water added to the public sewer system.

Nicole – The opportunity to showcase creative materials and work in a sustainable, healthy environment.

Kyle – Indoor bike storage, showers and locker room.

Tim – 90 fully functional work stations with nothing more to move, store, stage, archive, auction or give away… –

Retail Trends, Part III – Hispanic Shopping Malls



Hispanic Shopping Malls provide event spaces as well as entertainment and shopping experiences.

In Part I Craig Slocum, AIA covered general trends; in Part II I introduced the fastest growing segment – Hispanic Shopping Malls.  In Part III we delve deeper into how successful developers are responding to the Hispanic trend.

Demographics.  Smart developers study the local demographic and adjust days and hours of operation to reflect the culture.  In Hispanic culture extended family units spend time together and of the 50 million Hispanics in the US today 25% are under 18.  The younger population especially enjoys "domingeo" or hanging out.  Hispanic malls are open late, until 9 or 10 pm, and definitely on Sundays.

Culture.  Mall owners pay for entertainment and host community events.  They observe and celebrate Latin holidays and customs in plaza spaces built for entertainment, music, dancing and participatory activities.  Pool tables, foos ball and big slides entertain multiple generations, and ample benches and chairs are provided for customers to sit and linger.

The right retail mix.  In Phoenix, Arizona at the Desert Sky Mall Hispanic-centric stores are mixed with major retailers with training available for mainstream retailers to learn more about Latino preferences and purchasing styles.  An empty 77,000 sf Mervyns was re-purposed into a traditional Latin Mercado housing 220 small shops.  These shops include fast-food and bakeries, beauty salons and flower shops, carnicerias or meat markets, and many other retailers.  Short-term and temporary leases are offered and the Mercado acts as an incubator for new stores to get their footing before moving to the regular mall.  The mainstream theater company was replaced with Cinema Latino.

Ideal locations.  Many Hispanic malls have been situated in older malls where the previous management failed to acknowledge changing demographics and then lost market share.  These ‘distressed retail’ locations may not be poor locations after all.  Sometimes all they need is the right vision.  –

Jorge Pierson, AIA, LEED AP is an Associate with CSHQA and Regional Manager of CSHQA's Phoenix office.  He has practiced architecture in Phoenix for over 30 years providing planning, design and project management of retail, resort, residential and industrial projects throughout the Southwest.

Retail Gold Rush – Hispanic Purchasing Power Becomes a Major Player

Eduardo's Reception Hall hosts its first event at Desert Sky Mall, Phoenix, AZ 

ICSC has been on this kick for a few years now.  A couple of years ago I was lucky to attend the first National Hispanic Initiative event in San Antonio, Texas.  The site was packed with everyone wanting to know what it was and what to do about it.  We were flooded with statistics that all boiled down to this:  Hispanics are the next Baby Boomers.  Those who study markets understand what this means - money. Like all businesses retail must go where the customers are to be successful.

At RECon last month the session ‘The Retail Gold Rush’ reinforced the reality that the Hispanic market is large and growing and our businesses need to plan to take advantage of it. The panelists Chiqui Cartagena, Maria Contreras-Sweet and Colin Crawford stressed that the Hispanic buying power is growing due to increasing affluence, larger family size and continued immigration.  

In Phoenix, Arizona the Desert Sky Mall, with the help of José De Jesús Legaspi, is one of the first malls modified to address this growing market.  José’s strategy was basically very simple:  he made changes that he knew would appeal to Hispanic shoppers.  It also helped that the demographic surrounding this mall is highly Hispanic.  He knows retail dies if you do not accommodate those close to you.

By happenstance CSHQA was able to add to the Hispanic flair at Desert Sky through our client Jaime Martinez who purchased an empty shoe retail building on the mall perimeter.  Jaime and his father Eduardo, successful businessmen from Mexico, saw the potential of this vacant building and converted it to Salon De Fiestas or otherwise known as Eduardo’s Reception Hall. This turned out to be a good addition to the mall offering a great rental space for family and community events.

To wrap up: The next big wave is the Hispanic market and those who can ride it will have fun and make some money on the way.  –

Jorge Pierson, AIA, LEED AP is an Associate with CSHQA and Regional Manager of CSHQA's Phoenix office.  He has practiced architecture in Phoenix for over 30 years providing planning, design and project management of retail, resort, residential and industrial projects throughout the Southwest.

The Legaspi Company is a full-service retail real estate firm focused on the Hispanic market.  Founded by José De Jesús Legaspi, the firm identifies and capitalizes on untapped opportunities to revitalize depressed retail malls and serve the Hispanic community.  www.thelegaspi.com

In the third and final part of this Retail series we will take a closer look at elements that contribute to a successful Hispanic Shopping Mall.