It’s the hot trend in urban planning: An open-air shopping and dining center aimed at attracting customers both on cars and on foot. Outdoor fountains and sidewalk cafes contribute to a sense of community.

And developers want to bring it to Fort Lewis.

The organization that runs post exchanges and base exchanges at military installations across the world plans to develop a "lifestyle center" that mixes mid- to high-end retail and causal-dining restaurants linked together with wide sidewalks and outdoor fountains. Developers are also considering adding a roller-skating rink, health club, furniture store and bowling alley to the area.

The center is scheduled to open by summer 2012.

“This will be more than just a big-box PX next to the commissary,” Joseph Giuffreda, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, told a meeting of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce earlier this week.

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The lifestyle center will be built next to the final phase of Fort Lewis’ privatized housing development, Town Center. The hope is that many people living in the 256-unit neighborhood could walk to the lifestyle center.

When complete, the commercial portion of the development will be as large as 600,000 square feet; 300,000 will be reserved for AAFES, and the remainder will be allocated to third-party vendors. The number of slots open to commercial vendors has yet to be chosen.

The development is expected to cost about $90 million. Construction is scheduled to begin by spring of 2010.

AAFES chose Fort Lewis as one of its pilot locations because the post consistently ranks in the top two for business, Giuffreda said. Lifestyle centers are also planned for Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Seventy percent of AAFES' earnings fund Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs (the other 30 percent goes toward capital improvements). Fort Lewis' MWR program received $3.3 million last year from AAFES; McChord Air Force Base received $500,000.

The lifestyle center could lead to 1,000 new jobs and will be built to meet the LEED silver sustainability targets, Giuffreda said.

“It’ll revitalize the installation,” he said.

About a third of Fort Lewis’ 30,000 soldiers live on post. Service members and their families – regardless of where they live – could choose to shop at the lifestyle center instead of patronizing stores in Lakewood, Tacoma, DuPont or other surrounding cities.

An economic impact study will be completed and developers will “secure the concurrence of the local community” as part of the planning processes, AAFES spokesman Chris Ward said.

The prices of leases and overhead for third-party vendors will be market-driven, reducing the chance companies will close their outlets outside the gates because operating at the lifestyle center is cheaper, Giuffreda said.

Lakewood city officials have known about the plans for about a year but learned more details this week, spokesman Jeff Brewster said. The city wants to study the proposal more thoroughly and provide input to an economic assessment before officials are prepared to discuss possible impacts, Brewster said.

“We respect that Fort Lewis has an obligation to provide services to its soldiers and family members,” he said. “We just want to make sure that a proper balance is struck.”