Cypress Equities is set to break ground on Market Street Place Sept. 17, with a two-year turnaround. But SRS Real Estate Partners, the exclusive leasing agent, has already been working on the 5th and Market project for two years by eyeing what's happening in Midmarket. Initially the camp was talking to JC Penney and the like, considering the discounted shopping route, SRS' Matt Alexander tells us. But that plan changed because the last six months have been void of signatures from higher-end brands prevalent in LA, NYC and internationally. Now he's attempting to replicate Rodeo Drive inside the Market Street building. (At 250k SF, even the whole Kardashian clan could find something to wear.)

A plethora of higher-end tenants still aren't in S.F., he says; a few fancy options found in Beverly Hills but not here include Lanvin, Harry Winston and Roberto Cavalli. Nothing is signed yet but the team's negotiating five or six LOIs, actively talking with several higher-end apparel users for the first floor. He thinks a food hall concept could work well, as would one or a few restaurants on the top level with a possible patio (similar to Cheesecake Factory's positioning atop Macy's in Union Square). Floor plates are huge (40k SF) so lux furniture purveyors are showing lots of interest. Spaces could be broken out in the 4k to 10k SF range for smaller retailers on the second and third floors.

He says the model is analogous to GGP's Tysons Galleria in Northern Virginia (above), which attracts the upper echelon of clothiers and jewelers with food options on top. Despite some pricey brands already committed to Union Square (Dior, Valentino), Market Street Place can fill in missing haute couture holes. By clumping them together, they become more successful than as stand alone locales. He thinks the mall will play well off of Westfields' adjacent Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, as well as the proximity to where the cable cars circle around. One potential tenant told him Midmarket shares Chelsea's story; that area was not the most desirable place to be at first but now it's home to some of the hottest designers on the planet.