Lots of dining options ahead for Guam's tourist district
Olive Garden is scheduled to open in September at the former retail space previously occupied by Rolex outlet on the first floor of Tumon Sands Plaza. The American restaurant chain specializing in Italian cuisine is among the new facilities to be added at TSP as part of a redevelopment project designed to rebrand the high-end shopping center located in the heart of the tourist district in Tumon. With approximately 50,000 sq. ft. of luxury retail space, TSP is home to Louis Vuitton global store as well as flagship stores for Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Chloe, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Bree, Furla, Dunhill, Cartier, Bulgari, Bottega Veneta and Lacoste among others.
“After more than four decades, TSP is now prepared to reposition its Guam business model by adapting to recent market trends from both local customers as well as Asian visitors,” TSP states in its variance application submitted to Guam Land Use Commission. “Because global demand is shifting away from exclusive shopping for luxury items to more affordable family shopping, dining and entertainment demands.”
By December, the Triple J Restaurant Group will open a Red Lobster seafood restaurant at TSP where it will occupy 5,206 square feet on the front first floor of the shopping center. “This is an exciting time for our restaurant group, we will be bringing a seafood experience to Guam that you won’t find anywhere else, with the highest standards of quality, service and great taste,” Dan Murrell, senior vice president for Triple J Enterprises, states in a press release.
The former art gallery on the second floor will soon be renovated for another restaurant with a patio on the roadside of the building. “The lease agreement has been signed but we cannot divulge just yet the name of the restaurant until our new tenant made it public,” says Susan Fryer, TSP manager. “TSP has a contractor responsible for clearing the areas for these new projects but the new tenants hire their contractors for the renovation.”
Besides the three new dining establishments, TSP will build an extension for a new one-story virtual reality entertainment center on a 20,000-sq. ft portion of TSP’s existing parking lot on the north side of the building. “These new attractions appeal to the more modern, upscale market on Guam and will simultaneously create synergy with TSP’s existing retail and shopping opportunities,” TSP states in its project plan.
The new entertainment center is projected to draw 1,000 customers daily, 40 percent of which are also expected to be TSP shoppers. The shopping center currently has a monthly traffic flow of 6,828, which is expected to increase to 10,158 once the expansion project is completed and the new facilities are up and running. To accommodate an increased traffic resulting from the facility expansion, TSP will build a new two-story parking structure on the west side of its current parking lot. The steel frame structure will have 173 parking stalls. While TSP’s entryway and canopy will get a facelift as well, the front sidewalk on San Vitores Road will remain intact.
TSP was originally built as a 36-room hotel by the American Sotetsu Corp. in 1974. The facility was later expanded and converted into a retail center, starting with the opening of Tiffany & Co. in 1992, the Restaurant Annex in 1993, the Chanel store in 1994 and the Louis Vuitton store in 2005.
In January 2005, the Hawaii-based Mills Group acquired TSP from American Sotetsu. Property ownership changed in November 2012 when the Mills Group sold TSP to S199 Real Estate LLC for $142 million.