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MIXED-USE DESIGN 152 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • May 2017 A t a time when mixed-use devel- opments are becoming perhaps more popular and prevalent than ever before, the standard mixed-use for- mula is beginning to evolve in a range of exciting new directions. The synergistic power of mixed-use destinations has taken mixed-use from the exception to the rule: once a relatively rare sight, mixed-use concepts are now an in- creasingly common feature on the devel- opment landscape. In markets across the country and around the world, the social and financial horsepower of thoughtful- ly designed mixed-use developments has helped the format expand well beyond what was once largely limited to suburban town center-style projects. Today, mixed use is a popular and profitable part of a growing number of urban environments, as well. But mixed-use architects and develop- ers are not resting on their laurels: they are finding new ways to create spaces and places that are more interactive, more dy- namic and more experiential. In the pro- cess, they are integrating new uses that are not directly driven by the profit motive, adding more community, civic and social elements to complement creative new commercial accents. Developers like Co- lumbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates have taken that implicit promise and made it explicit, articulating a development phi- losophy designed to create experiential brick-and-mortar destinations that are not just community gathering places, but true community resources that operate with a clear social conscience. Experience is still at the heart of the mixed-use value proposition, but new trends, tactics and techniques are redefin- ing the contours of what that experience looks like. In the process, they are, if not redefining, then at least reimagining what mixed-use development can be. This pro- cess is not so much revolutionary as evo- lutionary — not the next big thing so much as lots of little things. But the sum total of those little things is something very inter- esting — and potentially very special. ANCHORS, AWAY As more mixed-use projects come on- line that feature both commodity retail and specialty town-center-style environ- ments, one popular strategy we are begin- ning to see more of is the use of a depart- ment store or other large anchor tenant as a connecting element. Connecting big Into The Mix Mixed-use is evolving in new directions, and thoughtful design is taking them there. Jim Baeck Mitchell Ranch is a planned mixed-use community in the Tampa Bay area. Courtesy D3i Architects