Monday, May 19, 2003 | 11 a.m.
A new retail center on the Strip will take aim at the "average tourist" with affordable shops, restaurants and free entertainment.
The $140 million, two-story Hawaiian Marketplace is being built in place of the former Polo Plaza shopping center in front of the Polo Towers, just south of Harmon Avenue. The 80,000-square-foot center will have subterranean parking and will be enclosed with large-tent like structures, to give it the feel of an outdoor marketplace.
The center is scheduled to open by the end of this year.
While construction is already under way, developer Brett Torino along with New York-based Flag Luxury Properties will hold an official groundbreaking Tuesday morning. The announcement of the new center comes at the start of the International Council of Shopping Centers convention, an annual retail trade show in Las Vegas.
Torino said the center will cater to existing foot traffic and will have a relaxed atmosphere, which he said can't always be found in the upscale retail centers on the Strip.
"Hawaiian Marketplace is especially unique because it creates an environment that is user friendly and accessible to tourists that don't necessarily want to enter into another hotel-casino," Torino said. "The most-visited retail malls on the Strip cater almost exclusively to high-end consumers and often are out of reach for the average tourist."
Torino said the idea for the Hawaiian Marketplace came after the Walgreens retail center opened just south of the Hawaiian Marketplace site.
He said the store is always packed with people who want ice cream, drinks and sundries and are looking for a place to sit.
"It became very clear to us if they had a friendly environment to access, where they could just hang out and take a break, it would be successful," he said. "Nobody is reaching out to these folks."
Adding a mid-level retail environment to the Strip is important, now that more domestic traffic is coming to Las Vegas, said George Connor, senior vice president of the Las Vegas retail division at real estate brokerage Colliers International.
"Given the events of 9-11 and SARS, we've seen a change in the demographics," of the people that visit Las Vegas, he said. "We're seeing less international tourists ... and more domestic traffic being pulled out of California."
Most domestic travelers are geared more toward value than the high-end luxury and designer shops already on the Strip, Connor said.
"Developers are not replacing high-end retail, but supplementing it," he said. "It will be interesting to see the evolution of the Strip. That type of movement is a big demographic change."
Part of that change will be the Polynesian-themed center, built to re-create the look and feel of the International Marketplace in Honolulu, Hawaii. A "meandering sidewalk" will lead visitors through the Las Vegas Hawaiian Marketplace. A man-made banyan tree, a replica of a century-old tree at a retail center in Waikiki Beach, will be one of the center's focal points, Torino said.
Some of the stores slated for the development are the Pearl Factory, Zebra Shoes, Body Jewelry, Sunglasses, an Urgent Care center, a wedding chapel and the Polo Fitness Center. The center, which will house 60 stores, is more than 70 percent preleased, Torino said.
The 12 restaurants in the fast food pavilion will range from Pizza Hut to China Chef, Subway and Japanese restaurant Hamada.
Other existing retail centers on the Strip are expanding their offerings to tourists.
The Fashion Show mall is still building out its expansion, which will include an 11,288-square-foot food court. About 175,000 square feet are being added to the Forum Shops at Caesars, to be open by the end of 2004; and Mandalay Resort Group is developing a retail center with 39 stores linking its Luxor and Mandalay Bay resorts. It's expected to open this fall.
Despite all the existing retail, and up-and-coming expansions, John Restrepo, principal of research firm Restrepo Consulting, said the Strip can support even more retail.
"(Retail) is not overbuilt on the Strip by any means," he said.
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