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CSA Talks With RPAI’s Nick Over

5/10/2017

How many American moms would love to see their sons grow up to become accountants or lawyers? Nick Over is both, but he decided to apply his skills and knowledge to the challenging world of real estate. After just two years at RPAI, the 36-year-old Over is steering the company into new avenues as its director of development. Chain Store Age spoke with him recently about his current pet project.


CSA: Nick, congrats on being named one of our 10 Under 40. You’ve made quite an impact at RPAI in two years’ time. Tell us what you’ve been up to.


Over: When I joined RPAI I was tasked with identifying and implementing opportunities for redevelopment within the existing portfolio. I had worked for eight years at The Peterson Companies where we did a lot of mixed-use developments in the D.C. and Virginia area, and RPAI had already identified several opportunities to do some of that here.


CSA: Do you have something under development now?


Over: Yes, Towson Circle East in Maryland. It’s a mixed-use development project in downtown Towson, which is one of the up-and-coming D.C. area suburbs. The existing building was famously home to Hutzler’s department store, and has gone through several redevelopment phases over the last 50 years. It eventually was reconfigured to what it is today — a street level storage facility, Barnes & Noble and a Bahama Breeze that was positioned at the top of a parking deck overlooking “the hole.” Below grade is parking to Trader Joe’s, Pier 1 Imports and a portion of Barnes & Noble, all of which were constructed directly below Joppa Road. With 118,000 sq. ft. of total GLA, the overall configuration was just never right.


CSA: Did you plan to raze the site and start rebuilding from scratch?


Over: Not completely. We plan to fill in “the hole” and add a podium over the parking lot, connect the two sides of the street and put the parking below grade. Then we will de-mall the existing building and turn it into street-facing retail and renovate the entire façade. We’re transitioning the space into a retail street zone, and we’re adding a mid-block cross to integrate it with Towson Square, which is a fairly new property with a Cinemark that opened just two years ago.


CSA: This development is going to be a mixed-use property when all is said and done, right?


Over: Yes. We have a tremendous partner in Avalon Bay, which is putting a six-story residential building above the retail with 385 apartment units. Next to that will be a 14-story hotel, which will be one of the first high-rise buildings completed in Towson. There are quite a few apartment complexes within a one-mile radius of our site, but Avalon is going to be the top-of-the-line residential product there.


CSA: What’s the makeup of the population?


Over: We have a total population of 313,000 at the five-mile radius, and with an average household income of $87,000. Couple our strong demographics with neighboring Towson University and Goucher College, county offices, courts, law firms — and you end up with a lot of daytime traffic.


CSA: What about nighttime?


Over: It’s something unique in the D.C. area. There are a ton of government consultants living there who work from home. At some point, there’s a threshold as to how far people will drive to work, and they’re home 90 percent of the time. These people want to get out of the house, and they’re going to want to come to our center. We will have Wi-Fi, fast-casual dining and cafés where they can work from there.


CSA: So Towson Circle East is part of the trend to remaking downtowns for populations that once again work locally — digitally from their home offices.


Over: Yes, vertically integrated mixed-use developments are the future. We’re repurposing an old asset and modernizing it into something that will work in the modern retail environment. People want street-level development with an urban experience. But it’s difficult. It’s urban infill and we’re building this on 2.2 acres.


CSA: How was it to work with town officials in Towson?


Over: The county has been fantastic to work with. They have been a partner more than anything. They’ve been proactive and supportive throughout the entire project. We were actually told we set a new standard for preparing a package for the planning commission’s design review panel.


CSA: Have you announced tenants yet?


Over: Not yet, but I can say there will be great co-tenancy. We’re going to have two or three full-service restaurants and three or four quick-service. We plan to in-fill with high-end home furnishings and soft goods. We’ve just started marketing the site, and we’re looking forward to seeing what kind of interest we’ll get from prospective tenants at RECon in Vegas.


CSA: Thanks, Nick. Have a great show!


Over: My pleasure, Al.


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