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Feature
First U.S. “Kids City” to open at Palisades
Center in West
by Rich Timlen
In a couple years, there will be a place where the kids go to work and pay
the bills and the parents can play and have fun.
Amazing Toys de Mexico and The Pyramid Cos. will be opening a 100,999 sq.ft.
retail and entertainment center at the Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY that
models itself after La Ciudad de los Ninos (Kids City), a unique educational and
entertainment facility in Mexico City, Mexico for children ages two to 12 years.
At the site, children try on a variety of different roles, simulating the jobs,
activities and responsibilities of a functioning modern society. A child can be
a fireman, police officer, judge or juror, doctor, store clerk, or even an actor
or chef. The children earn or spend the city’s currency at the numerous shops in
the town.
The $45 million facility is slated to open Spring 2004, but is expected to have
a new name other than Kids City. The original Kids City, which basically is a
small town for children, opened during 1999 in the upscale Santa Fe district of
Mexico City. The 50,000 sq.ft., $10 million facility adjoins a major shopping
mall and has a yearly attendance of approximately 800,000. Admission is $12 for
children and $6 for adults. It offers about 60 different activities in some 40
pavilions. The center consistently operates at or near capacity (1,600 children
per five-hour shift) every day of the week.
Admission at the planned facility in the Palisades Center is expected to be $25,
but it also will be twice as large as the Mexico facility. The projected
attendance is 1.2 million visitors per year based on an estimate of about 4,000
visitors per “work shift.” The U.S. facility also is expected to have more
activities, more things for adults to do, more accommodations for toddlers and
infants and more extensive facilities for parties and special events. Early
plans call for an 800-seat stadium, many opportunities for parents to observe
their children and separate facilities for adults such as a lounge, gameroom and
sports bar.
Sponsors also are key to the “Kids City” concept. Each pavilion is sponsored by
a counterpart real-life business. For example, Domino’s will be the city’s pizza
parlor, Pond’s is the beauty salon and General Motors is the city’s auto
dealership. To even get into the current Mexico City facility, visitors must
first “purchase” an American Airlines ticket. All of the sponsors’ stores will
be replicated on a child’s scale.
While the kids can choose to be law enforcement officials, the city is still
planning to provide a custom security system that uses computer-coded wristbands
that ensure a child cannot leave without his or her original group. The current
Kids City operates in two five-hour shifts, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and from 4
p.m. until 9 p.m.
The Kids City-concept, however, won’t end at the Palisades Center. Plans call
for the opening of 15 sites in the U.S., including metro Los Angeles, CA;
Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; Boston, MA;
Detroit, MI; Dallas, TX; Philadelphia, PA and Houston, TX. Other planned
projects include one in Madrid, Spain and another in the northern part of Mexico
City.
Kids City principals Ruben Cors and Xavier Lopez are leading a team of
established industry experts, including Jack Rouse Associates, a design firm
based in Cincinnati, OH; the Los Angeles, CA office of Economics Research
Associates; operations experts Management Resources of Tustin, CA; New York
City-based Sponsorship Resources and real estate agency Jones Lang LaSalle.
Adrienne Weiss Corp., of Chicago, IL, will develop the corporate image.
Jones Lang LaSalle represented Amazing Toys de Mexico. Key individuals in the
negotiations were Pyramid’s Nicholas G. King, director of leasing and Jonathan
Dower, leasing representative, and Jones Lang LaSalle’s William P. Huelsman,
senior vice president, regional leasing manager and John-david Franklin, vice
president and leasing specialist.
Kids City/La Ciudad de los Ninos are trademarks of Amazing Toys de Mexico (an
affiliate of Kids City). The company has offices in New York, NY and Mexico
City, Mexico, and currently owns and operates the only existing Kids City
facility in Mexico City. Kids City operates indoor, location-based entertainment
complexes under the names of Kids City and La Ciudad de los Ninos.
Palisades Center is owned and operated by Pyramid Management Group, Inc. The
2,000,000 sq.ft. super regional mall, which opened in April 1998, is located at
the intersection of the New York State Thruway and Routes 303 and 59.
For more information, contact John Dower, Pyramid Cos., 1000 Palisades Center
Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994; 315-422-7000 or 845-348-1005, Fax 845-348-1774;
Email: jonathanldower@aol.com. For additional details, contact Jones Lang
LaSalle, 200 East Randolph Drive, Chicago, IL 60601; 312-782-5800, Fax
312-782-4339; Web site: www.am.joneslanglasalle.com. For further information,
contact Judith Rubin, Kids City, 510-595-9664; Email: judith.rubin@kidscityint.com.
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