It’s grand and it’s ambitious. Meridian Town Center promises year-round dancing fountains with colored-light shows. It promises bronze statues honoring Idaho teachers. And it will offer amenities such as a public space for special events like stargazing programs.
“It’s something that hasn’t been done in Idaho,” said developer Fred Bruning, CEO of CenterCal Properties, a retail development company with properties in California and the Northwest, including the Treasure Valley Marketplace near Interstate 84 in Nampa.
The project will adjoin the 60-acre Julius M. Kleiner Park, which will have spaces for walking, biking and picnicking, plus two ponds, lots of trees, an ampitheater and a senior center. First proposed in 2007 with a planned opening by 2010, the center was billed as Meridian’s first lifestyle center — a pedestrian-friendly, upscale retail center anchored by a movie theater, market and large department store.
Lifestyle shopping centers are aimed at affluent customers. The average household income within a 10-mile radius of the center is estimated to have been $72,318 in 2010 and is projected to grow to $77,738 by 2015. But the center was delayed by the recession. Now, with the economy slowly rebounding, CenterCal plans to begin construction this summer. The center will fill the northeast corner of the busiest intersection in Idaho, where traffic tops 90,000 vehicles a day, in the Valley’s population center. By 2013, the current sod farm would be replaced by retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues and offices.
The first phase of 300,000 square feet would open in summer 2012, with a second phase to open the next year. When finished, the center is planned to encompass 850,000 square feet. It would create hundreds of temporary construction jobs and permanent positions. Bruning said he has commitments from nine companies, most new to Idaho, to locate there.
“This will be complementary to existing retail,” Bruning said. “One of our goals is to bring new stuff to town. We’re making good progress.”
The site is just beyond the boundaries of The Core, an area straddling Interstate 84 at Eagle Road and created by Meridian city and business leaders to spur economic development in health, research and technology industries. Meridian Town Center’s development will benefit The Core and foster its growth, said Earl Sullivan, chairman of The Core’s executive board and CEO of Conex Med/Pro Systems in Meridian.
“In order to recruit and retain the right types of employees, you need to have the ability to provide entertainment venues that will attract them,” Sullivan said. “This type of product increases the options for the businesses and their employees and allows us the ability to increase the options for amenities. Just as much as you need specialized workforce, capital and education, you need the ability to engage the people working in The Core.”
The adjacent Kleiner Park is under construction and will open next spring, said project manager Susan Graham of Parametrix, a planning and design firm.
The $25 million park will be donated by the Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park Trust to the city upon completion.
Plans call for large water features, rolling terrain, bicycle and pedestrian trail systems, open space for community gatherings, a bandshell with an amphitheatre for music and festivals, and a formal grand plaza and promenade featuring a memorial to the late Julius M. Kleiner.
Kleiner was a Russian immigrant, businessman and philanthropist who owned and operated the creameries in Caldwell and Nampa at separate times. In 1944, he bought the property at Eagle and Fairview from Morrison Knudsen Co., which had used it to store construction equipment and horses. Kleiner turned the land into a dairy farm, which operated until the 1970s. He oversaw farm operations until his death in 1972.