The retail landscape is growing in Nevada with new shopping centers under construction and existing ones adding fresh stores and restaurants to their tenant mix.
As consumers’ needs and purchasing behaviors continue to evolve, developers and retailers are responding with environments conducive to today’s shopper.
“To succeed, stores must look at shoppers as individuals given that the retail experience is different for everyone,” said Andrew Ciarrocchi, CRRP, senior vice president, management and operations at Howard Hughes Corporation, developer of Downtown Summerlin. “Some view shopping as entertainment, while for others, it’s a necessity. Catering to those viewpoints is critical.”
Ciarrocchi said the shopping experience at Nordstrom Rack, which is filled with racks of various-sized clothing at deal prices, is different from Nike Red Rock, a small-format retail concept designed to be a lab-like space that offers digital and in-store services in a more open environment.
“At Apple and Sur La Table, those are places you go into, and you don’t just shop but you get to experience,” he said. “At Apple you get to go touch and feel. You’re not just picking it up and taking it home. You’ve got a Genius Bar and everything else.”
Sur La Table at Downtown Summerlin is no stranger to providing immersive customer experiences to please its shoppers. The specialty retailer of cookware, kitchen electrics and bakeware offers incentives for its customers through several rotating in-store events such as product demos, knife skills classes, coffee open houses and cooking classes. Customers who sign up for its cooking classes receive a 10 percent off coupon and $10 off each seat for their next class.
Retailers that create stimulating store environments and develop an emotional connection with their shoppers will attract the highest number of in-store customers, according to the 2024 Spring Retail Report by Colliers.
Steve Neiger, principal and managing broker at CAST, a commercial real estate firm assisting in the development of a new $30 million open-air lifestyle retail center in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood of Henderson, said shoppers want everything that the internet can’t deliver.
“E-commerce plays a big role in almost everyone’s lives these days, but you can’t eat on the internet, you can’t workout on the internet, you can’t get your nails done on the internet,” said Neiger.
Neiger said The Cliff, which will be converted from an aging 100,000-square-foot office complex, will provide a mix of national and local brands along with outdoor amenities to create a destination experience that is slated to open in summer 2025. CAST is developing The Cliff with Partners Capital.
In northern Nevada, Reno Public Market puts locally owned food businesses at the forefront, and consumers are responding. In 2023, approximately 400,000 customers dined in its food hall, one of the largest food halls on the West Coast.
The 130,000-square-foot marketplace opened in January 2023 and is 85 percent leased, according to Rick Casazza, senior vice president of retail services in northern Nevada for Colliers.
The Colliers 2024 Spring Retail Report identifies that there is a high demand amongst consumers for essential categories such as food, health and beauty, clothing, and footwear.
Chris Armstrong, executive vice president for Olympia Companies, developer of commercial, retail and master-planned communities in Las Vegas, said he’s seen a decline in the amount of actual brick-and-mortar retail stores that are selling goods. Service-oriented businesses such as hair salons, nails, dry cleaners and restaurants make up most of the tenants that have come on board at Olympia’s centers over the last couple of years.
“There’s a shift, and maybe it’s attributed to online sales, whether or not it’s Amazon or any other online retail provider that’s really made it a competition to the brick-and-mortar stores,” Armstrong said.
On the Las Vegas Strip, 63 Las Vegas and BLVD offer consumers the option to visit a restaurant or clothing store without going through a casino or an existing enclosed mall.
BLVD, a new street-facing retail center being built by Gindi Capital and partner Cherng Family Trust, began construction in 2023 and will bring H&M, Adidas, PUMA and other retailers to the 3700 block of Las Vegas Blvd., where the Hawaiian Market retail complex once stood. Tenants will start taking possession of their space in August 2024, according to Michael Hirschfeld, vice chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a commercial real estate and investment management company.
The four-story mixed-use retail center 63 Las Vegas, located on the corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, draws tourists and locals to the ARTE MUSEUM, Museum of Illusions, Ocean Prime, Ross, Fat Tuesday and Ariat, a manufacturer of equestrian footwear and apparel.
“What attracts people to our project is what attracts people to Las Vegas – food and beverage, and merchandise sales,” said Brett Torino of Torino Companies in Las Vegas who spearheads 63 Las Vegas with New York-based Dayssi and Paul Kanavos of Flag Luxury. “Our retailers are taking advantage of a tremendous amount of pedestrian traffic that migrates throughout Las Vegas Boulevard and all the visitors that are looking for an experience of some type.”
Torino said the retail landscape on The Strip differs from Henderson or Summerlin because many consumers on The Strip are on vacation which might lead to impulse buying, and a good portion of that experience is food and beverage.
Southern Nevada Retail Forecast Strong
Southern Nevada is on track for moderately robust retail expansion this year, according to Colliers 2024 First Quarter Retail Report for Las Vegas. The report identifies that 465,024 square feet was scheduled for completion over the four quarters, with 68.2 percent of the space pre-leased.
The Cliff
The Cliff, an adaptive reuse development, is a lifestyle shopping center experience that will feature 25 spaces allocated for retail along with dining and health and wellness offerings. A covered 26,000-square-foot outdoor dining lounge, gathering areas, revolving food kiosks, and a live performance area will draw traffic from nearby and surrounding areas to its location.
“We’re going after both nationally sought after and local brands,” Neiger said. “We are working on a tenant mix of a combination of dine-in restaurants, ready-to-wear retail, personal services from beauty to fitness as well as crafted fast casual concepts.”
Neiger said despite the effects of Covid, inflation, interest rates, and construction costs, the resilience of retail has been impressive over the last couple of years.
“Lending costs and construction costs are a huge part of the ability to grow in our industry and a huge part of the ability to grow in retail,” he said. “Construction costs are up significantly. Our interest rates are up. Those costs have made it more expensive to do business, and fortunately, despite those challenges, we continue to see resilience in our industry.”
Downtown Summerlin
A new 7.4-acre commercial retail center anchored by Whole Foods Market is under construction in Downtown Summerlin at the corner of West Sahara Avenue and South Town Center Drive.
The center will feature 20,000 square feet of retail and dining space, and completion is slated for the third quarter of 2024 with retailers, including a 3,000-square-foot Starbucks, expected to open the third quarter of 2025.
In addition, Chanel Beauty and Fragrance will open this fall and LEGO will open late spring/early summer at the main shopping district, located off the 215 Beltway between Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard. The stores will take over existing vacant spaces.
According to Ciarrocchi, the success of current retailers helps attract others and puts Downtown Summerlin on the radar of strong national brands like Chanel and LEGO.
“Those brands have a limited number of stores to open in a year so we’re not just competing with Las Vegas but other retail destinations in the United States,” Ciarrocchi said. “The fact that we were able to get to the top of the list to get some of those expansions is a great sign of how Downtown Summerlin is viewed by the industry.”
UnCommons
In the southwest Las Vegas Valley, UnCommons, a mixed used development across from Durango Casino & Resort, plans to add three restaurants, a fitness studio, and a cosmetic tattoo studio.
The Good Place Athletic Reformer Studio and DAELA Cosmetic Tattoo are slated to open this summer, while Rare Society, a wood-fired California-style steakhouse will open its first Nevada location later this year at the 40-acre campus. The Peruvian Japanese restaurant Kaiyo, and Siempre, an elevated Mexican steakhouse, will also open this year.
UnCommons, developed by Matter Real Estate Group, features more than 500,000 square feet of office space, 830-plus residential units, and The Assembly, a 5,000-square-foot conference and event pavilion.
Retail Growth on the Las Vegas Strip 63 Las Vegas
On the Las Vegas Strip, retail will continue to transition to meet the needs of customers, according to Torino.
“The large retail box tenants have become more efficient with their space needs and the experiential retailers and the food and beverage retailers have stepped up their game, absorbing that use of space on The Strip,” he said.
Torino confirmed new tenants will debut later this year at 63 Las Vegas, and several will soon be announced.
He said many retailers are looking for marketing and branding experiences.
“There is a very limited opportunity to provide that type of space to the market,” he said. “Our objective is to take advantage of that need.”
BLVD
Hirschfeld said new tenants at BLVD include JD Sports, a global sports fashion retailer, which will occupy 20,000 square feet and Pandora, a jewelry brand headquartered in Denmark, which will display its merchandise in a 3,000-square-foot flagship location.
“The perception of the Las Vegas Strip as a shopping destination has completely changed,” Hirschfeld said. “The sidewalk bridges have made it a lot easier to traverse The Strip.”
BLVD will feature 700 linear feet of street frontage along the Las Vegas Strip, 55-foot, two-story storefront heights, and a rooftop destination with 110,000 square feet for dining, events, and immersive experiences.
Bright Outlook for Northern Nevada
The retail forecast for northern Nevada is strong, according to Gary Tremaine, senior vice president of retail for Dickson Commercial Group.
“We’re less than five percent vacancy in the northern Nevada Reno Sparks area,” Tremaine said. “We’re running out of inventory, and most of the good inventory is gone.”
Tremaine said there’s a lack of new construction because of high construction costs which leads to increased rent prices.
“Many developers are not willing to take that risk,” he said.
Double R Marketplace
One new mixed-use retail center is under construction at the intersection of Double R Boulevard and Damonte Ranch Parkway, said Tremaine, who is leasing the Double R Marketplace. The center will offer 135,000 square feet of retail space.
He said tenants will include a mix of sit down and quick serve dining along with national brands and local businesses. Space will be turned over to tenants in the first quarter of 2025, he said.
Shayden Summit
Shayden Summit, an open-air lifestyle center in Reno, announced plans to open several new retailers.
Chipotle, Burn Boot Camp, Aerie, X Golf, and a specialty grocer will join the retail line-up this summer. A new Starbucks, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and a Hyatt Hotel will open at the end of the summer.
Other planned additions include Mountain Mike’s Pizza, California Closets, BFT Fitness and Petco. A Dave & Buster’s, which offers dining and entertainment, is slated to open in January 2025, according to Amanda Gomes, assistant property manager of Shayden Summit.
Reno Public Market
The event and dining driven center located at 299 E. Plumb Lane recently added Pasta La Vista and Dopo Pizza & Pasta to the food hall and stores Junkee Clothing Exchange, Habitat Home Design and Mandalynn Jewelry Designs.
Beloved’s Bread Bakery Café and FiftyFifty Brewing Co. are under construction and slated to open this summer or fall.
Retail is clearly on the rise in Nevada as projects throughout the state continue to develop. As consumer needs change and grow, the developers who are flexible are best positioned to take advantage of the market.
