A Framingham, Mass., development company is co-redeveloping a Montana mall and bringing the first Whole Foods Market to the western state.
Framingham-based Grossman Development Group, LLC, is partnering with Boston Realty Advisors/The Broadway Company and the ownership of the Gallatin Valley Mall in Bozeman, Montana, to redevelop the shopping center that serves a five-county trade area of approximately 150,000 people.
Officials from Grossman Development Group met owners of the Gallatin Valley Mall during the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas and discussed a potential redevelopment plan.
“They were intrigued,” said Howard Grossman, president of Grossman Development Group LLC. “We hit it off.”
Grossman Development Group — which helped revamp the Latham Circle Mall in Albany, New York — were also intrigued by Bozeman’s standing as the fastest growing micro city in the country. Bozeman, which at nearly 50,000 residents is the fourth-largest city in Montana, is quickly becoming a tech hub that is attracting workers from throughout the country.
Jeremy Grossman, senior vice president and principal for Grossman Development Group, characterized Bozeman as a retail hub. Residents living in the region will travel as far as 70 or 80 miles to Bozeman to shop, he said.
The redevelopment of the Gallatin Valley Mall includes transforming the enclosed mall into a more diverse space, resulting in a “Main Street” retail experience to include public gathering areas and a broad mix of retail, lifestyle and entertainment tenants.
“Malls today have become fairly vanilla,” said Grossman. “Mall owners realize there’s a need to transform them.”
The Gallatin Valley Mall, built in 1980, features a handful of anchor tenants including Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, Regal Cinemas and JoAnn Fabrics.
Phase I of the redevelopment is the construction of Montana’s first Whole Foods Market. Construction is underway and is expected to take about a year to complete.
“We are excited to be able to leverage our Whole Foods and mall redevelopment expertise in collaborating with an incredibly talented group of partners,” said Jeremy Grossman. “Bozeman is a dynamic micro city, poised for strong mixed-use demand.”