Precise Timing

The economy may be in the gutter, but Legacy Place is proceeding apace, with five of seven buildings in various stages of construction at the $200 million shopping and entertainment complex.

The 675,000-square-foot project, an open-air mall, from W/S Development Associates and National Amusements will ultimately have about 80 stores including anchors Borders, L.L. Bean and Whole Foods Market, restaurants, Kings Bowling & Billiards, and a 15-screen movie complex, Showcase Cinema de Lux. The buildings will ring two parking lots and landscaping.

During a muddy walking tour of the construction site yesterday, W/S Development representatives pointed out the structures now rising at Legacy Place, off Providence Highway and Elm Street. The shell is almost done on Building C, by Elm Street, where facades are being completed for storefronts that will eventually house Banana Republic, Anthropologie, and others.

A skeleton has been erected for the cinema building at the far end of the project, while an adjacent three-story parking garage is two-thirds finished.

W/S Vice President of Development Robert Frazier said Legacy Place was fortunate to gets its permitting and leasing lined up and financing secured before the economy went south.

"If we were trying to sign up leases and it happened last year, and try to get financing and things like that with financial institutions the way they are, we would have had real problems," Frazier said.

Sovereign Bank provided a $200 million construction loan for the project, which is being built by Suffolk Construction.

No tenants have backed out of the development, Frazier said.

"Our hope is that here in '09, by the time we're ready to open, that the consumers will be coming out of this recession and the consumers will be back and ready to go about the business of feeling more comfortable in the economy," he said.

Corporate Marketing Director David Fleming said Legacy Place has signed several new tenants over the last four months, including Oakley sunglasses and Merrell Shoes and Apparel. The mall is 95 percent leased.

Ground was broken in April on Legacy Place. Its expected opening date is still August 2009. Frazier said he hopes to have the buildings' exteriors completed by spring, so tenants can move in and "fit up" their interiors during the summer.

"The goal is to have everybody up and ready to open this time next year for the big holiday season," he said.

On Wednesday, two workers were building a metal structure that will hold the outer patio for P.F. Chang's China Bistro at the "Landmark Building," the structure closest to the Providence Highway/Elm Street intersection. A layer of yellow insulation has been placed on the exterior of the building, which will also include Borders.

Construction has not yet begun on the "Pavilion" building at the center of Legacy Place, which will house Legal Sea Foods and Urban Outfitters. Project manager Mark Hebert said footings for that building will start in the next month.

As Legacy Place goes up, its developers are also performing work to mitigate the project's impact on the town. Frazier said the Churchill Park ballfield has already been rebuilt, with a rededication to come in the spring. Meantime, work will probably begin this spring on a new parking lot for Fairbanks Park on Rustcraft Road.

Frazier plugged Legacy Place's "fantastic" location by the crossroads of Providence Highway and Rte. 128, saying "it will tend to attract not only Dedham residents, but residents from the surrounding area."

And Frazier said he was not worried that anchor tenant Whole Foods's earnings fell sharply in the last quarter - news that led Moody's to downgrade the natural food grocer's credit rating by one level.

"Third quarter of this year, the news wasn't good for a lot of people. I think everybody's in the same boat," he said. "Whole Foods is a fantastic operator, they have a loyal customer base, and right now I think times are tough, but by the time Legacy Place opens, I'm sure they're going to be back up top."

At 60,000 square feet, it will be the largest Whole Foods in New England, Hebert noted.

Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.