NEW YORK CITY — Foot Locker will close more than 400 underperforming stores as part of its “Lace Up” plan, which was announced during a recent call with investors. According to Tony Aversa, senior vice president of global store development, the move is part of a strategy to manage portfolio risk by way of strategic closures. The New York City-based shoe retailer currently operates 2,700 stores, which will be reduced to approximately 2,400 by 2026, a number that also reflects the planned addition of stores in new formats. Despite the closures, Foot Locker intends to increase its aggregate brick-and-mortar footprint by roughly 10 percent to 14.5 million square feet by 2026. Foot Locker will also shift to a focus on off-mall stores, with the goal of having off-mall locations comprise more than 50 percent of its real estate portfolio by 2026.
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIF. — CBRE has acquired the Los Angeles and Orange County affiliates of Integra Realty Resources (IRR). IRR is a network of commercial real estate valuation, counseling and advisory firms in the United States. IRR-Los Angeles/Orange County specializes in appraisals for right-of-way (ROW) properties, in addition to providing valuation and advisory services across a broad spectrum of property types. The firm has completed about 500 assignments annually for more than 100 regional and national clients. The acquisition complements CBRE’s national Valuation & Advisory Services’ ROW practice, the largest of its kind in the U.S., and expands the firm’s valuation team in Southern California. With offices in Los Angeles and Irvine, the new teams will integrate with CBRE’s existing team. John Ellis and Beth Finestone, principals of IRR-Los Angeles/Orange County, will continue to run the incoming team’s operations in Southern California as executive vice presidents for CBRE.
SAN DIEGO — Sunrise Management has taken over operations of The Warwick, a newly renovated, Class A apartment community in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood. Spectrum Partners recently acquired the luxury multifamily community for $37.4 million. The Warwick was converted from a hotel into apartments in 2017. The 80-unit community now includes a resort-style pool, sun deck with cabanas, fitness center, technology-enabled package lockers, enclosed dog run, LATCH keyless entry and outdoor social lounge.
PITTSBURGH — Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) plans to open as many as “75 to 100” new House of Sport stores over the next five years, according to Lauren Hobart, CEO of the Pittsburgh-based retailer. House of Sport is a retail concept that provides interaction and experiences including putting greens, rock walls, batting cages and turf baseball fields, along with sports-related apparel and equipment for sale. There are currently three House of Sport stores in Rochester, N.Y.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Minnetonka, Minn. “House of Sport will be a significant part of our future growth story,” says Hobart. “Over the next two years, we plan to open around 20 additional locations, including downtown Boston and our two hometowns of Pittsburgh and Binghamton, N.Y.” Hobart’s comments came during an earnings call following the release of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ fiscal fourth-quarter 2022 earnings report. According to CNBC, Dick’s outperformed expectations with a 5.3 percent increase in same-store sales during its fiscal 2022, which ended Jan. 28. Analysts predicted the retailer’s same-store sales would rise only 2.1 percent. Dick’s recently announced its decision to exit its Field & Stream brand, which focused on outdoor sports such as fishing and hunting. As a result, the …
AURORA AND LAKEWOOD, COLO. — The Ensign Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ENSG) has acquired the operations of Hampden Hills Post Acute, a 218-bed skilled nursing facility in Aurora, and Mapleton Post Acute, an 84-bed skilled nursing facility in Lakewood. Both properties are located in first-ring suburbs of Denver. Ensign has signed long-term, triple-net leases for both. The owner was not disclosed. These acquisitions bring Ensign’s growing portfolio to 290 healthcare operations, 26 of which also include senior living operations, across 13 states. Ensign subsidiaries, including Standard Bearer, own 108 real estate assets and sublease three healthcare operations to a third-party.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Northmarq has officially opened its Nashville office, serving the Middle Tennessee, Northern Alabama and Kentucky markets. The Minneapolis-based commercial real estate services firm has grown its local team to eight consisting of producers and admin support and is looking to grow to upwards of 20 in the Music City across both its Investment Sales and Debt & Equity teams. Bryan Schellinger, managing director of investment sales, is leading Northmarq’s Investment Sales division at the new office. He relocated from Northmarq’s Southern California team where he also helped grow the firm’s investment sales offerings. The Investment Sales division in Nashville is now primarily handling multifamily deals but intends to expand its exposure across all asset classes in keeping with the company’s push to be property type-agnostic following Northmarq’s acquisition of Stan Johnson Co. last year. “We’re actively looking to add an industrial investment sales team [in Nashville] given the significant growth in the sector across the Southeast and Tennessee,” says Schellinger. “Northmarq’s Nashville office will soon be able to provide a suite of services for all property owners and lenders.” Locally based broker David Stollenwerk joined the new Northmarq office after several years with Marcus & Millichap’s Nashville …
DALLAS — Corner Bakery, a national restaurant chain based in Dallas, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court after defaulting on its loans last year, according to reports from multiple media outlets, including The Dallas Morning News. The chain cited its reliance on traditional office workers seeking fast casual or grab-and-go meals, which has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels in many areas, as a key driver behind the move. Philadelphia-based Pandya Restaurant Growth Brands purchased Corner Bakery, which currently operates 140 locations in 20 states, in October 2020. Prior to its acquisition by Pandya, the chain was owned by Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group.
WASHINGTON, D.C., AND ROCKLEDGE, MD. — KLNB has acquired Edge Commercial Real Estate, a Rockledge-based brokerage with offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The move increases the size of the Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate brokerage firm by 20 percent and serves as KLNB’s entry into the multifamily brokerage arena. KLNB is adding 32 total employees, 18 of which are brokers who specialize in multiple facets of office, industrial, tenant representation and multifamily investment sales. Six of the brokers will be immediately installed as principal partners at KLNB. “The acquisition of Edge fits perfectly in our timeline for smart and disciplined progression,” says Marc Menick, president of KLNB. “By acquiring Edge, we will be able to do virtually everything we’re already known for, but at an even higher level and a wider reach. And in the case of multifamily, this opportunity brings the KLNB customer experience to a whole new sector that we have wanted to approach for some time.” Additionally, KLNB will fold Edge’s property management division, which oversees a 1 million-square-foot portfolio, into its KLNB Asset Services platform, a joint venture between KLNB and Divaris Real Estate. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
MIAMI ¬— Eugene Rutenberg, a veteran lender and capital advisor consultant, has opened Celestial Fund I LLC, a capital advisory firm based in downtown Miami. The financial intermediary raises debt and preferred equity on behalf of developers and investors across several real estate sectors, including multifamily, spec home construction (non–owner occupied), hospitality, industrial, mixed-use and office. Rutenberg initially plans to hire two originators with at least five years of capital markets experience and an underwriting analyst who has at least two years of experience. The producers would join Rutenberg in the firm’s new downtown Miami office. Celestial Fund will work with capital sources of all types, including agency lenders, debt funds, private lenders, banks and credit unions, life insurance companies and CMBS lenders, among others. Financing options will cover ground-up construction, redevelopments, bridge loans, permanent loans and distressed debt opportunities. For developers seeking agency and private-label debt, Celestial Fund’s lending parameters are generally $2 million to $200 million for senior loans and $2 million to $20 million for mezzanine loans or preferred equity investments. The firm will also originate construction loans starting at $20 million. Rutenberg has over 15 years of experience in the capital markets arena. He has closed …
KENILWORTH, N.J. — Biopharmaceutical giant Merck (NYSE: MRK) has agreed to sell its 108-acre office and research campus in Kenilworth to a joint venture between private investment firms Onyx Equities and Machine Investment Group. The price was not disclosed. The life sciences campus, formerly Merck’s headquarters, features 1.4 million square feet of laboratory space, 500,000 square feet of Class A office space, 30 acres of developable land, a 25-megawatt cogeneration plant, three cafeterias, a fitness center, auditoriums, conference centers, outdoor amenity areas and more than 3,200 surface and structured parking spaces. The property sits off Garden State Parkway and is located near to Route 78, the Route 22 retail corridor, the New Jersey Turnpike, Newark Liberty International Airport and the Port Newark Elizabeth Marine Terminal. Kenilworth is located just across the Arthur Kill waterway that separates New Jersey from Staten Island. The buyers plan to market and lease out the site’s laboratories and support facilities to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and technology companies. Merck will vacate the property in phases over the next several years while expansion progresses on the firm’s new headquarters in nearby Rahway. “New Jersey receives two forms of good news today as one of the pillars of our business community …