Mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented town centers offered by the New

Mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented town centers offered by the New Urbanism could be attractive to Fortune 500 companies, according to Robert Tiscareno of LMN Architects, which designed Redmond Town Center in Redmond, Washington. The project originally was planned mostly as a retail center, but became more mixed-use in response to market demand. AT&T Wireless officials sited their 600,000 square foot headquarters in Redmond Town Center. “What we found is that Fortune 500 companies like the amenity of having retail nearby — the retail creates a demand for offices,” Tiscareno says. With the addition of jobs, “now there is a market for high-density, urban residential. And the retailers like having the residential.” Other new urbanist projects that have attracted corporate tenants include Northwest Landing (Intel and State Farm), and Laguna West (Apple Computer).