Media Coverage of Von Maur Announcement

Department store Von Maur recently announced that they had agreed to join the Village of Orchard Hills in Grand Rapids, Mich. The announcement has generated healthy interest from the national and local media.

* Real Estate Business, the national real estate trade publication, covered the story



* WZZM Channel 13 (the local ABC affiliate) produced a TV news report




* WXMI Fox 17(the local Fox affiliate) covered the story online



* WOOD TV 8 (the local NBC affiliate) also covered the story online

Von Maur in Grand Rapids, Mich: The Announcement

Fashion department store Von Maur signed a Letter of Intent to join the Village of Orchard Hills in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Village, which will debut in 2011, will be Western Michigan’s first and only Main Street lifestyle center.

Below I’ve included the full press release announcing this news. You can also download the release as a pdf.

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Paul Kesman
248.258.2333
pkesman@identitypr.com


VON MAUR WILL ANCHOR THE VILLAGE OF ORCHARD HILLS DEVELOPMENT IN GRAND RAPIDS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., November 10, 2008 — Birmingham, Mich.-based commercial real estate development firm Robert B. Aikens & Associates, LLC today officially announced that Von Maur will join its The Village of Orchard Hills in Grand Rapids, Mich., serving as the center's primary anchor. The announcement was made by Bruce Aikens, Vice Chairman for Robert B. Aikens & Associates.

Von Maur, an upscale retailer selling brand-name clothing, accessories, cosmetics, shoes and jewelry, will occupy 120,000 square feet and use The Village of Orchard Hills to make its debut in Western Michigan. Von Maur currently operates 23 stores in nine states, including stores in Ann Arbor, Mich. and Livonia, Mich.

“We are thrilled Von Maur is joining The Village of Orchard Hills,” said Aikens. “The addition of a retailer with the experience, track record and success of Von Maur to the project sets the tone for the high-quality, family friendly retail environment we wish to develop in the community."

“The Village of Orchard Hills is an ideal location for Von Maur as we continue expanding our presence throughout the Midwest,” said Jim von Maur, president of Von Maur. “Grand Rapids is a major shopping destination for those living in Western Michigan, and we look forward to bringing our high-quality merchandise and outstanding service and benefits to this part of the state.”

The Village of Orchard Hills is a 400,000-square-foot mixed-use lifestyle center project, located at the corner of Three Mile Road and East Beltline Avenue in Grand Rapids Township, Mich. Featuring a mix of retail uses, including a department store, restaurants and a bookstore, as well as future development of 156 condominium units, the project will be patterned after the company's successful Village of Rochester Hills project located in Rochester Hills, Mich. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2010, with completion scheduled for Fall 2011.

About Von Maur
Von Maur was founded 130 years ago in downtown Davenport, Iowa, by C.J. von Maur. The company currently operates 23 stores in nine Midwestern states. Von Maur is known for its outstanding customer service experience and benefits, including an interest-free credit card, no-questions-asked return policy and free gift wrapping and shipping services. The company also offers its associates above-market wages, excellent benefits and flexible, family-friendly scheduling. At Von Maur, customers find a great selection of merchandise including first-in-the-market fashions and a wide selection of brands such as: Polo Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Kenneth Cole, Garfield & Marks, Misook, Austin Reed, Tommy Bahama, and Joseph Abboud.

XXX

Von Maur in Grand Rapids, Mich: What This Means for National and Local Retailers

Even in this volatile economic market, fashion department store Von Maur is growing across the midwest. Just this fall they opened in Dayton, Ohio, and Kansas City, Kansas. As The Kansas City Star put it, “Consumers are cutting back. So retailers are, too … Then there’s Von Maur."

This is good news for Grand Rapids. The addition of a great store like Von Maur to the Village of Orchard Hills will help attract other great national and local tenants to join the project. This will spur much needed economic activity in the region.

Here’s a quick bit of Internet research to demonstrate this fact:

Von Maur opened a new store on September 13th, 2008 at The Greene, a lifestyle center in Dayton, Ohio developed in 2005 by Steiner and Associates.



In an August 18th article in the Dayton Business Journal, Steiner president Barry Rosenberg argued that the store will give the project a strong fashion anchor and make the project more attractive to other potential local and national tenants. Rosenberg said, “It’s kind of a stamp of approval.”

As Von Maur’s president, Jim Von Maur, told the Business Journal, “We compete with Nordstrom’s. We compete with Macy’s. So it works.”

True enough! As reported in the Dayton Business Journal's September 19th follow-up, the Von Maur opening made a big impression on other retailers. Here’s a clip from that piece:

“Beau Arnason, executive vice president with Steiner and Associates said nearly a dozen (local and national) retail stores will be opening before Christmas, bringing the center to more than 80 retail tenants …

These new tenants (including Forever XXI, Fossil, Espressionne, DorAnne’s Gifts and Gourmet, and JennaClaire Handbag Studio) come on the heels of Von Maur opening at The Greene this month. As the lifestyle center’s only true anchor, Von Maur brings a new level of shopping to The Greene. The new tenants are hoping to build off of the buzz Von Maur has been receiving.”

We think that Van Maur will enhance our leasing program at the Village of Orchard Hills in Grand Rapids like it did for the Greene in Dayton.

Stay tuned!

Von Maur in Grand Rapids, Mich: What This Means for Michigan’s West Coast

Von Maur in Grand Rapids will help to draw shoppers from across Michigan’s West Coast, from St. Joseph to Traverse City, to shop, eat and enjoy themselves at the Village of Orchard Hills.

So, what’s Von Maur like, and what do customers say about them? When the new store opened in Dayton, Ohio last September, 2008, the Dayton Daily News tried to answer these questions for their readers. Although particular to the store in Dayton, this September 11th, 2008 article gives you a sense of what to expect from Von Maur. A second article in the Daily News on the same day offers some glowing customer testimonials.

Grand Rapids has community strategy, access to cash, 'can-do' spirit

Grand Rapids this year hosted "West Side Story", the name of the 2008 real estate forum put on each year by the Urban Land Institute and the University of Michigan.

In a feature news story covering the event, Crain's Detroit Business reported to their southeast Michigan readership on the remarkable revitalization effort taking place on the West Coast of the State.

"What has made the situation in Grand Rapids unique", proposed Jim Becker, managing director in the Detroit office of Jones Lang LaSalle, "is the combination of access to capital and a cohesive development plan." Becker continues, "Usually, communities have one or the other, a vision but no investment or a lot of capital and no vision. Grand Rapids is a case study on what can happen when there is an integrated community strategy and a capital strategy."

Read the full story at Crain's Detroit Business

The Village of Rochester Hills on Youtube

I recently found a cool video on youtube featuring our project in metropolitan Detroit, the Village of Rochester Hills. The video gives a pretty good sense of what Grand Rapids' Village of Orchard Hills will be like. Check it out!

Grand Rapid's JW Marriot: First in the Midwest

Andy Dragt at Rapid Growth Media published a youtube video profiling the new JW Marriot in Grand Rapids for its first anniverary.

It turns out that there are only 40 upscale JW Marriots in the entire chain of 3000 hotels; and that the JW Marriot in Grand Rapids is the first in the midwest. As General Manager George Aquino puts it, "Having a JW Marriot here provides curiosity for people and they want to come here. Once they're here, it's pretty easy to sell the city of Grand Rapids."

Check it out for yourself on youtube, or visit Rapids Growth Media.