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VIRTUAL LEASING 144 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • December 2016 need for a community-oriented center like theirs because of a dearth of nearby retail/lifestyle options. "We always knew how great the Mont- gomery demographics were and then with the site sitting right outside of Princeton with more great income, it was obvious the market needed a downtown feel by way of creating a special center," says Montgomery Promenade Project Manag- er John Muly. The town center will be a single-level development with a main street running through it with wide sidewalks and a fo- cus on entertainment. It will host 95,000 square feet of shopping; 30,000 square feet of dining; and 60,000 square feet of entertainment including Frank Theatres with 11 stadium-seating screens, 16 bowl- ing lanes and a 5,000-square-foot sports bar. Other proposed tenants include Red Star Craft House, Turning Point, Star- bucks, Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar, Nina's Ice Cream, European Wax Center, Rite Aid and PNC Bank. Madison Marquette intends for this development to be a place where people will be drawn to socialize and stay awhile. One acre of space in the central courtyard will be activated in winter with an ice rink, concerts in warmer months or sports or movies on a large screen. "These outdoor public spaces are op- portunities for future programming," Dorin says, "It's a place of destination. There are larger parking areas behind the buildings. Unlike the standard strip center in many locations where you park your car, run in to get what you need, then leave, this space is designed to re- quire people to park and walk around the shopping center for a couple of hours to really enjoy the environment that has been created for this community." The look of the center is earthy and nat- ural, reminiscent of a ski lodge, but with a sleek and modern edge, styled in wood and stone in an earth-tone color palette. The Madison and MMA teams say Mont- gomery Promenade is being designed to be "a place of all seasons." So what would that look like? Muly and his team are answering tenants' questions with a full-court press that links Mont- gomery Promenade's website, brochure and fact sheet to the virtual reality experi- ence for a cohesive branding strategy that not only tells the center's story, it shows it. MMA has discovered that Madison Mar- quette is unique in how hands-on the firm has used the virtual reality component to lease the project. "We never realized that the leasing arm of developers saw what a great tool this is," Massa says. "Now, rather than having a simple floor plan to color in or a roman- tic rendering, you can have a real-time animation or virtual reality. We can put a Carrabba's on a pad or we can put a Star- bucks on a corner when you're having a meeting with your potential tenant. It has turned out to be an unbelievable tool for the leasing team. They use it more than anybody else." Now that MMA has completed the backbone of the architectural design, rela- tively smaller changes can be made on the spot. "If we want to change a color, the location of a sign, move tenants around or swap out pavers for all concrete, that's instantaneous and can be as real-time as sitting next to us and working on a design together," Massa says. MMA is using virtual reality in ways that can communicate uniquely to target au- diences. For leasing, users can don a pair of virtual reality goggles and step into the animation to walk around a retail space or from an entrance to a specific door with- in the project. The animation can also be tailored to show aspects of the project that the township is interested in, such as elevations and building materials. Montgomery Promenade will feature a one-acre central courtyard that will be activated in winter with an ice rink, and concerts or sports or movies on a large screen during the warmer months. The regional lifestyle center will be home to 60,000 square feet of entertainment including Frank Theatres with 11 stadium-seating screens, 16 bowling lanes and a 5,000-square-foot sports bar.