The Streets at SouthGlenn has started to look more like an upscale, suburban city under development than a three-decade old shopping center under demolition.

Sparkling new stores have opened in recent months at the redevelopment — Best Buy, Macy’s, Staples and Dick’s Sporting Goods, to be specific.

The Streets at SouthGlenn, a $310 million, 140,000-square-foot “lifestyle center,” is slated to open next summer.

In fact, pockets of retail are expected to open even as construction crews continue building residential and office space.

Meeting next summer’s deadline is the primary goal of Alberta Development Partners LLC — especially after a declining housing market last year pushed the completion date back one year, said David Goldberg, principal at Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development.

The real estate market, which was stable when The Streets at SouthGlenn was first drawn up, cooled considerably, forcing developers to re-engineer their plans.

Instead of 300 to 400 for-sale condominiums, The Streets at SouthGlenn will offer 200 upscale for-rent properties.

The change also added 200,000 square feet of office space that occupies the space originally planned for residential use.

“I think in light of today's mortgage crisis, it seems very pertinent to have done that," said Don Provost, founding principal of Alberta in a statement.

In spite of the setback, the redevelopment is still on track.

“Fortunately, given the state of the market, we are pretty much right where we thought we’d be,” Goldberg said. “But there isn’t one specific (construction) priority. We’re working on a lot of different pieces right now because the goal is to open as much as we can at once.”

Some of those pieces include Whole Foods, Barnes and Nobles, as well as the 140,000-square-foot office building and 200 high-end apartments.

Alberta characterized the planned Whole Foods as the retailer's "Denver flagship location with more than 58,000 square feet."

The Barnes & Noble's store will be more than 37,000 square feet, including an expanded children's books section. It also will become the bookseller's flagship Denver outlet, Alberta said

Wellsfargo and the Bank of the West opened their doors Oct. 20, and Alberta is planning to announce the remaining tenants by December.

"The Streets at SouthGlenn continues to attract the leading national and local retailers and restaurants, which will allow us to create a destination," Alberta Development's Don Provost said in a statement.

The Streets at SouthGlenn also will feature sidewalk cafés, gourmet bistros and women's and men's apparel retailers. The new retail center also will be home to the Commons, a one-city-block-long park.

For more information visit, www.shopsouthglenn.com.

At a glance

Streets at SouthGlenn about 50 percent complete

Whole Foods and Barnes and Nobles spring up on site

Developers say project is on track to open next summer

Timeline:

1974: $40 million Southglenn Mall opens with anchor stores Sears, The Denver (Denver Dry Goods) and May D&F. Developed by Denver-based Jordan Perlmutter & Co., the same company built Northglenn Mall and Southwest Plaza.

1988: The mall's first renovation takes place

1996: Southglenn sales slump following the debut of Park Meadows Mall, a Douglas County center with anchors Dillard's, Foley's, Nordstrom, and Joslins.

2005: Alberta Development Partners and the City of Centennial announce plan to redevelop the mall into Streets at Southglenn.

June 15, 2006: groundbreaking for redevelopment at 11 AM local time.

July 17, 2008: Best Buy opens

Power Center complete - including Staples, Best Buy, Macys and Dicks Sporting Goods