National or regional retailers trying to gain a foothold in the Eugene-Springfield market are finding fewer and fewer spaces in the area’s established shopping centers.

If they take a quick look around, this is what they’ll find:

Oakway Center on Coburg Road in Eugene — full.

Woodfield Station at 29th Avenue and Willamette Street in south Eugene — full.

Fifth Street Public Market in downtown Eugene: one space left on the first floor, and when that’s leased — full.

“We’ll be full for the first time since my family has owned the market,” said general manager Casey Barrett, adding that his grandfather, Brian Obie, has been an owner in the market for 35 years.

Even the area’s two large regional malls, Valley River Center in Eugene and Gateway Mall in Springfield, don’t have much space to offer, with the exception of the 120,000-square-foot former Gottschalk’s space in the back of Valley River Center.

“Retail is funny,” commercial real estate broker Tim Campbell said. “The more national they are, (the more) they want to be in proven retail areas like 29th and Willamette and Oakway Center and in the malls — and they’re full.”

With strong demand for retail space at these centers and not enough of it, some, including Oakway and Gateway, are looking into expanding. Other retailers may try to redevelop properties, such as what Colorado-based Natural Grocers is doing with the former Red Lion Hotel on Coburg Road, or what Fred Meyer has been hoping to do at the Civic Stadium site in south Eugene. Still others may consider other retail areas, such as downtown Eugene, or they simply may bypass the Eugene-Springfield area, brokers said.

“They’re on hold,” said Gary Surgeon, a broker for Woodfield Station in south Eugene. “If there’s not a box or a space open for them, they’ll look at alternatives in a market. But if they don’t meet their criteria for a market, they may pass on it.”

Usually, national retailers have their sights set on a particular location, whether it’s Oakway or Valley River Center or Gateway Mall, retail broker Alan Evans said.

“They say that’s where they want to be, and if we can’t be there, we won’t come at all,” he said.

If they’re still not in a market two or three years down the road, but want to be, they might try again, Evans said.

Local businesses, on the other hand, tend to be more flexible and will continue to find sites all over town, brokers said.

“If you go to the Whiteaker (neighborhood in Eugene), you won’t find the national tenants,” Evans said. “You’ll find local businesses, and a lot of them are doing quite well.”

Evaluating Oakway expansion

Oakway Center, which filled the former Borders anchor spot with Nordstrom Rack in October, is red hot right now, which is something of a problem for its owners who don’t want to miss out on opportunities.

“We’re full,” said Steve Korth, real estate director for center owner McKay Investment Co. “It’s a good problem to have, but it’s a problem where you want to meet opportunity and meet demand.”

Oakway is revisiting plans to add a 50,000-square-feet building on the west side of the property near Oakway Road. The six- or seven-story building would include parking, restaurant space and possibly a hotel.

A cost estimate is not yet available.

Oakway currently has about 220,000 square feet of retail space and 130,000 square feet of office space.

“We don’t have a set time line, but we’re working with our architects to revisit that plan to increase some square footage, parking and potentially a (100- to 120-room) hotel,” Korth said.

The timing coincides with the loss of the 137-room Red Lion Hotel on Coburg Road, but Oakway is not planning to partner with Red Lion on a new hotel, he said. If a hotel were to be added, Oakway hasn’t decided whether it would be a boutique or branded hotel, Korth said.

The hotel piece is not driving the potential expansion, he said.

“The driver is the improving economy and, quite honestly, demand for retail,” Korth said.

“We’re 100 percent occupied since we filled the Nordstrom Rack (space). We survived well through the tougher times, and we have demand that we can’t meet. “In order to (increase our retail space), we have to increase our parking. That is our predominant driver.”

Fifth Street fills up

In Eugene’s city center, Fifth Street Public Market has just one small first-floor retail space left, and General Manager Casey Barrett said that multiple people are looking at it.

“We feel like we can take our time and make sure we have the right fit,” he said.

The more than 100,000-square-foot market has about 45 mostly local retail, restaurant and office tenants.

Leasing activity at the market has picked up, along with the economy, Barrett said. Word is spreading about Inn at the Fifth, the market’s boutique hotel, which is now in its third year of operation, he said.

“The hotel is coming along, and it’s really outperforming our expectations, which were high to begin with,” Barrett said.

“It’s creating more of a destination. We’re getting more visitors than we’ve gotten in the past.”

Late last year, a development group headed by Obie secured from the county a 99-year lease for a county-owned parcel at Sixth Avenue and Oak Street, next to the market. The development group plans a $67 million mix of market-rate and subsidized apartments, as well as retail, including a movie theater and grocery store.

“We hope to break ground late in the summer of ’15,” Barrett said, adding that a completion date will be determined later. The project would have retail on the first floor to support the residents living above, he said.

The most challenging part of the planning is figuring out what to put on that first floor, Barrett said. “We’re not trying to create any competition with the existing market.”

No space at Woodfield

The 145,000-square-foot Woodfield Station in south Eugene was completely remodeled before the recession hit. It is fully leased for the first time since that remodel.

In the downturn, the shopping center lost Party City, which was replaced with PetSmart. Pegasus Pizza, 16 Tons and Laughing Planet filled other vacancies.

The most challenging space to fill was the 6,000-square-foot former Hollywood Video store. The Sherwin Williams paint store took part of the space, and an expansion of the state liquor store took another part.

Finally in December, GNC, a vitamin and supplements store, opened in the remaining 1,450 square feet, Surgeon said.

Even though there might be demand for more space, Woodfield Station isn’t interested in trying to expand, broker Bob LeFeber said.

The previous remodel “was not easy to permit, so you do not want to change anything,” he said. “We don’t want to try to get more square footage and (upset) that apple cart.” For that reason, LeFeber said he doesn’t think many retailers will try to get land rezoned for their stores.

“It’s very difficult to accomplish — a lot of studies, a lot of criteria. It’s a very expensive, time-consuming proposition.”

But he does expect to see more repurposing of land already zoned for commercial use, for example tearing down dated hotels to make way for new stores. He said he’s working with a client who may do that in Roseburg, and reeled off several examples in the Portland area.

“That’s kind of the natural progression,” LeFeber said. “Older uses get torn down.”

Mall makeovers

Eugene’s Valley River Center plans to add several tenants, updating the front of the mall, while Gateway plans to largely gut the 23-year-old mall in north Springfield, add some large new retailers and construct several new buildings.

The mall’s owner, Rouse Properties, has declined to discuss potential new tenants. But an early plan filed with the city listed Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls and Petco as possible Gateway newcomers.

At Valley River Center, marketing manager Diana Bray said construction should start in the next few weeks on a Verizon Wireless store, which will take the former Mazama, See’s Candies and Perfect Look spaces.

By early summer, FootLocker will move into the former Justice juniors store, Justice will move into the former Build-a-Bear spot, and Spencer’s gift store will move into the former FootLocker space.

The mall should have a new tenant to announce in the next couple of months for the former Aeropostale shop. And the mall plans to start work in June on a 20,000-square-foot store for Swedish fashion clothing retailer H&M.

“H&M is a big win for us this year,” Bray said, adding that the store plans to open in November.

It will combine three spaces, including the spot between Macy’s and Sports Authority.

“Leasing is going well and tenants are looking for space when it becomes available, which is a great change, especially after what’s happened in the past few years,” Bray said.

Valley River’s property manager, Rob McOmie, recently said that during the recession, retailers bargain shopped and took advantage of openings in the top-tier malls. And now they’re looking at second-tier communities, such as Eugene.

“Now the economy has improved, and they’re ready to start expanding again in secondary markets where they know there’s a market for the product,” he said.

Follow Sherri on Twitter @sburimcdonald. You also can email sherri@registerguard.com.