Real Estate Forum - January 2008

J acksonville, FL-based Regency Centers is seeking LEED Core and Shell certification for Shops on Main, a 350,000-sf town center in Schererville, IN. It is scheduled for delivery in May 2009.

LEED certify 20% of its 2008 development starts, 40% of 2009’s starts and 60% of its 2010 developments. Starting this year, the company will incorporate LEED certification into redevelopments of existing properties. Additionally, Regency’s Greenlight program, a component of its overall plan, also offers a baseline of sustainability measures, such as low-flow plumbing fixtures and low volatile organic compounds, which will be incorporated into all new and existing centers.

Regency is also developing the first test project for its collaboration with the USGBC, the Shops of Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, CA. The 67,226-sf complex, to be anchored by Whole Foods, is currently in the entitlement phase, notes Smith. Through an all-encompassing scoreboard, each participant in the devel-

opment of the mall will earn LEED points for the green elements under their control. The sum total of the points accumulated by the various parties will determine whether the shopping center achieves LEED designation. All participants could then receive LEED certification recognition.

Smith suggests that the old piecemeal approach created a tough bureaucracy, making it difficult for any one entity to gain enough LEED points for certification. “It’s been very expensive and time consuming to get a lot of these projects done. Starting with the Santa Barbara prototype, this new process will allow retailers and developers to share points, so we can certify the entire shopping center. That has not existed in the past,” he says.

Once the entitlements are in place for the Shops of Santa Barbara, the CIO

Financial services firm Wachovia is participating in the LEED portfolio pilot, with plans to build 300 LEED-certified financial centers by 2010.

UK-based grocery chain Tesco’s green inclinations can be evidenced in Fresh & Easy’s Laguna Hills, CA location. The store incorporates green features such as LED lighting in freezers and cooler doors.

expects delivery in about 18 months. The prototype is one of four Regency developments currently seeking LEED certification. Last fall, the company began construction on Shops on Main, a 350,000-sf town center in Schererville, IN that is registered for LEED Core and Shell certification. The project is scheduled for delivery in May 2009.

Also seeking LEED CS certification is the company’s Jefferson Square in La Quinta, CA. Ground work on the 102,414-sf center is set to commence in the spring, with comp letion targeted for the same time a year l ater. In December 2007, Regency signed o n Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood M arket to be the lead anchor at Jefferson S quare. Given the UK-based grocery c hain’s green inclinations, the pairing was a n atural fit, Regency notes.

Three months prior to signing the lease w ith Regency, Fresh & Easy was selected to p articipate in the USGBC portfolio prog ram for LEED volume certification. Now i n its pilot phase, the program is meant to s treamline the documentation and certifica-t ion process by “recognizing standardized a nd consistently delivered performance t hroughout a portfolio of new or existing b uildings,” says USGBC.

While the program is open to all prop-e rty types, the platform is particularly useful f or retailers who roll out hundreds of units a y ear, much like Wachovia.