Bayer Properties is purchasing sites in Reno, Nevada, and Fort Collins, Colorado, to build lifestyle developments based on its Summit concept, which has been successful in Birmingham, Alabama, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Bayer Properties is bringing The Summit to the West. The company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, plans several lifestyle projects modeled after its successful Summit developments in Birmingham and Louisville, Kentucky.

According to principal Jeffrey Bayer, the company has a 200-acre site under contract in Reno, Nevada, and a 110-acre site under contract in Fort Collins, Colorado. The company is also negotiating for several more sites in the West — all for Summit projects.

“We think there is an underserved market in some cities across the country, and we think that our [Summit] product begins to satisfy that demand,” says Bayer. The Summit is a registered trademark of Bayer Properties.

The first Summit project opened in 1997 in Birmingham. Now in its fourth phase of development, the 110-acre lifestyle center currently has 800,000 square feet of retail space. Bayer is building another 100,000 square feet of retail space. The project is adjacent to 700 apartment units.

The company took The Summit concept to Louisville in November 2001. That 40-acre development, part of a larger mixed-use development, was built in one phase with a total of 400,000 square feet of retail space.

The Birmingham and Louisville projects have done well, even through the slow economy. “We are very pleased with the sales per square foot at both projects,” comments David Silverstein, principal with Bayer Properties. Average sales per square foot at the projects have exceeded the national average.

Construction on the Colorado and Nevada projects is expected to commence in 2004, with openings slated for 2005. Well into pre-leasing for the two projects, Bayer Properties is targeting the same type of tenants in Colorado and Nevada as are featured in the Birmingham and Louisville developments. Tenants at the existing projects include Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Eddie Bauer, Express, Gap, Old Navy, Pier 1 Imports, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Saks Fifth Avenue and Talbots. Restaurant tenants in Birmingham and Louisville include California Pizza Kitchen, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Johnny Rockets, Macaroni Grill, On the Border, Panera Bread, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Starbucks, Stoney River Legendary Steaks and Village Tavern.

“The Summit projects [in Birmingham and Louisville] have become part of the fabric of the communities,” Silverstein says. “The Summit projects offer convenient shopping with a quality mix of retail and restaurant tenants and an abundance of landscaping that enhances the shopping experience.”

Silverstein says the projects enhance the quality of life in the areas they serve. Beyond offering convenient shopping, the projects offer restaurants and entertainment as well as a meeting place for people.

The Colorado and Nevada Summit projects are scheduled to open in 2005.

Mixed-use elements have contributed to the success of The Summit concept, and Bayer Properties is considering mixed-use components when planning the western projects. Both the Fort Collins and Reno sites have enough land to support residential and/or office components, and the Fort Collins site is surrounded by a sizeable, existing office development.

With the company’s venture into the West, Bayer anticipates company growth. “I imagine we’ll have an office in the western U.S. as we begin to expand The Summit concept to that part of the country,” he says.

It is just another step for the company as it builds upon its 20-year-old foundation. “We have developed a company with outstanding expertise in all disciplines within the company,” Bayer says. “Financially, we are on a firm footing, and we are taking it very slowly to make sure that we can go into other parts of the country to do business and have the right people and the financial fundamentals in place to allow us to succeed.”

“Our overriding goal is to bring to the market what the consumer or the user needs,” Bayer adds. “[We don’t necessarily] build what we want to build but we build what we think the market needs. We build projects of good design and good quality, but we are absolutely geared to what the customer wants — that customer can be the retailer, the consumer or the [office] user. To us, it is more than just building a project to be building a project.”

Bayer Properties is a niche developer and a long-term owner, according to Bayer. “We are not set up to be a mass producer of a lot of projects. We don’t build a lot of projects to just sell. Our whole philosophy has been to build a few good projects. We are long-term owners of the real estate and we are very opportunistic.”

He says the company buys land in good locations and watches the market to decide how to use the land. In addition to Summit projects, Bayer Properties has built grocery-anchored centers, power centers, apartments and office buildings. Bayer says, “Typically we have not done one thing all the time … but we are now becoming more focused on doing Summit-type developments.”

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