When development at Exit 10 along Interstate 69 recently exploded, two companies joined to jump at the opportunity to make the area a destination for travelers and central and east central Indiana residents.

Developers Simon Property Group and Gershman Brown Crowley Inc. built Hamilton Town Center, an outdoor mall complete with large stores, specialty shops and restaurants. The companies also own property around the mall, outlots for more stores, restaurants, banks and other development flowing into the area.

The exit’s infrastructure, with an interchange off a major thoroughfare and recently rebuilt cross street of 146th Street, was important in bringing in Hamilton Town Center. Other considerations included the demographics of the mall’s target area, which extends through Madison County and into Delaware County, Simon public relations manager Les Morris said.

“It has the household demographics retailers want to see and developers want to see in terms of household income, education and lack of competition,” Morris said.

Hamilton Town Center sees a significant amount of traffic coming south on I-69 from Madison and Delaware counties, Morris said.

“We thought that this was a unique project, a unique platform for us,” he said. “It’s doing very well.”

Although restaurants and stores don’t generally release their sales figures, Morris said many of them were experiencing high consumer traffic in comparison to other stores in their district.

Mo’s Irish Pub in Hamilton Town Center regularly has a 90-minute wait time on Fridays and Saturdays, and next door at Paradise Bakery and Café, diners will find one of the company’s most successful stores in the state, Morris said. Qdoba Mexican eatery has set state sales records, and specialty stores in the mall like Gymboree and Lenscrafters have reported strong sales. The Hamilton 16 movie theater, also on the property, regularly fills its parking lot.

“It’s unbelievable,” Hamilton Town Center marketing director Tommy Holmes said. “Some of the stores are not only No. 1 in their district, but they are beating the nation in sales.”

Hamilton Town Center has been opening in stages since early May, when shoppers could visit 35 stores. More will open throughout the summer and fall, Morris said.

“That ensures the people who return again and again will see new offerings,” he said.

The mall was designed to have a regional draw, built to serve communities all along I-69, Morris said.

“For people in Anderson, it’s a wonderful, wonderful shopping option now,” he said. “You just scoot down 69, and there we are. We think very strongly that Anderson is definitely part of the trade area.”

Hamilton Town Center serves a need in the east central Indiana area, Holmes said. In talking with stores and getting ZIP code information about their customers, Holmes has determined a lot of shoppers and diners are coming from Anderson, Muncie and Kokomo.

“From my standpoint, being right off the exit, you’re not only capturing local people, you’re capturing people traveling on 69,” he said.