Urban Entertainment Centers (UEC's) were a product of fascination to developers in the 1990's. UEC's were a a formulized and often a branded approach to creating private-owned gathering places. UEC's developers such as Universal Studios (CityWalk), Sony (Metreon), and Disney (Downtown Disney, Pleasure Island) sought to create gathering places of out-of-home entertainment that would integrate town squares, pocket parks, retail shops, movie theaters, clubs, and tenant businesses.
The development of Universal Studios CityWalk in the Los Angeles area, created perhaps the largest sustained buzz that the retail real estate industry has seen. This was due to retail developers embracing the notion that Universal Studios, Sony, Disney, and other entertainment companies could create new anchors and entertainment programs for shopping centers. Developers never got the product they wanted, as entertainment companies saw bricks-and-mortar investment in such anchors as non-strategic at a time when buzz from Internet investment was underway.
Related Topics
About Gathering Places
About Theme Restaurants and Clubs
About Category Killer Stores
About Great Streets
About Placemaking (Place Making)
About Retail Power Centers
About Mall Entertainment
About Festival Marketplaces
About Tenant Deal Letters
About Retail Tenant Sign Criteria
About Tenant Store Window Displays
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