Town Center turns five

MILL CREEK

Five years ago, Town Center’s first tenants signed long-term leases.

As promised, this compact city center that developers carved out of woods has blossomed into a bustling neighborhood with people flocking to fitness centers, coffee shops and medical clinics.

It’s given Mill Creek a downtown.

Now as those first leases come due this spring, during the worst economy in decades, the question remains whether businesses will sign new leases.

Already a few high-profile businesses have closed, others are preparing to move and merchants whisper about more “For Lease” signs to follow. Office space above some of the newest shops sits vacant.

“You expect that at the beginning,” said Royal Reinsch, co-owner of Belle Provence, a gift and home decor shop that moved to the Town Center four years ago. “You always have a little shake out.”

The mixed-use center isn’t immune to economic doldrums, Reinsch said, but he believes the location and concept will keep it humming through difficult times. And he’s planning to stay.

Businessweek Magazine last month called Mill Creek the No. 2 best affordable suburb in the United States. With a median household income of $83,627, low crime rate and relatively high rate of home ownership, the community of about 13,000 people seems a perfect match for a so-called lifestyle center.

“The one thing that the Town Center has done well from the very beginning was to create activity,” said Dorrie Johnson, owner of Redfield Real Estate Services, which is located along the center’s meandering Main Street.

Scores of people are drawn to outdoor concerts and salmon barbecues in the summer. This Memorial Day, a parade is planned on Main Street. New town homes and condos are also pumping life into the Town Center.

Beneath the hum, though, is concern.

Shana Smith, manager of Granola’s Natural Market said the closure of some businesses has caused people to speculate that the health food store might follow. That is not so, she said.

Still, every bargain sale brings more questions from customers asking if they are closing, Smith said.

Earlier this year, The Atrium, a shop specializing in silk flowers and other home decor products closed. It took up one of the Town Center’s most visible storefronts across the street from University Book Store.

A Quiznos Sub Shop was also shuttered and sits empty.

Grizzly Sports, which sells snowboards and other extreme sports equipment and clothing is moving to a new location on US 2 in Monroe at the end of its five year lease this spring.

Amy Shay, 36, is upbeat about the Town Center’s prospects.

Several weeks ago, she bought House of Bread, which had been locked up for a few months after the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based bakery chain closed its Mill Creek location.

Shay, who previously worked as a baker there, opened her own business, Amy’s Bakery &Cafe.

Last week, customers stopped by to stock up on loaves of fresh bread. A few people sat in a small dining area and snacked on cinnamon rolls.

“Shops are closing down, but that’s just an opportunity for new businesses to move in,” Shay said.

She pointed to a few other businesses at the center that closed only to reopen as something else.

The Town Center is an important source of sales tax revenue for the city of mill Creek. It generates roughly $200,000 in sales taxes annually.

Citywide, sales tax revenue in the city is down by about 10 percent for the first two months of 2009, compared with the same period last year, city officials say.

Paula Shively manages De Vine Wines, a Town Center pioneer which is considering signing renewing its lease. When the wine bar and shop opened in April 2004, the only other business at the center was a deli. It was surrounded by dirt and construction equipment.

Today, the center has 70 boutiques, restaurants and other businesses, offering a variety of goods and services from appraisers and botox to yarn and zinfandel.

Shively said people who stop by for the first time are often surprised by what they see.

“There’s a lot more here than people realize,” she said. “They pass Town Center, but they don’t quite realize that there’s a whole world going on here.”