HOUSTON — Restaurateur Mack McDonald will open a 15,858-square-foot restaurant in Uptown Houston. The restaurant will be located within 5POP, a 28-story, 566,773-square-foot office building, and will be operated under the Mack Allen’s upscale seafood brand. David Littwitz with Littwitz Investments represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Crystal Allen with Transwestern represented the South Florida-based landlord, CP Group. The opening is slated for 2025.
MOUNT OLIVE, N.J. — Locally based brokerage firm R.J. Brunelli & Co. has negotiated a 16,400-square-foot retail lease at The Gardens, a 373,612-square-foot shopping center in the Northern New Jersey community of Mount Olive. The tenant, Fitness Factory, will backfill a space formerly occupied by Bed Bath & Beyond. A recently opened Boot Barn occupies the other portion of the space. The opening is scheduled for June. Danielle Brunelli of R.J. Brunelli & Co. represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations.
CHICAGO — Reform Studios is scheduled to open a 4,000-square-foot Pilates studio on Saturday, June 22 in downtown Chicago. The studio will occupy ground-floor retail space of Optima Signature, a 57-story luxury apartment tower developed by Optima Inc. in 2017. Additional commercial tenants at the property include Guidepost Montessori School, Egg Harbor Café, Bedazzled and GoodVets Streeterville. Founded by local resident Jennifer Villamil, Reform Studios is the only studio in Chicagoland to offer Reform RX machines, the world’s first commercial-grade smart Pilates reformer. Equipped with high-definition touchscreen displays and a library of on-demand classes, the machines can precisely track users’ movements and present real-time data on calories burned, heart rate and power output as well as post-session workout summaries.
DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. — Architecture, engineering, environmental and planning firm ISG has opened a new office in Dakota Dunes within southeast South Dakota. Months after establishing a presence in Pierre, ISG says the expansion enhances its ability to serve communities across the state and the broader Siouxland region encompassing Iowa and Nebraska. ISG is currently engaged in several projects and partnerships in Dakota Dunes while the local team enhances the firm’s expertise in refrigeration and industrial food. A ribbon cutting and open house for the new office will take place Thursday, Aug. 22. ISG maintains offices in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Arkansas.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) will open a new restaurant and biergarten venue at 15025 Bowl St. at The Bowl at Ballantyne, a mixed-use development underway in Charlotte’s Ballantyne district. In addition to a 14,000-square-foot building comprising two levels of restaurant, retail and balcony space, the property features a one-acre biergarten and two freestanding buildings with beverage service and bathrooms. This marks the second location for OMB, with the original location in Charlotte’s LoSo neighborhood. Northwood Retail, the landlord of The Bowl at Ballantyne and an affiliate of Northwood Investors, recently signed a lease with Hawkers Asian Street Food to join the tenant roster in early 2025.
METAIRIE, LA. — Seven new tenants have signed leases totaling 35,589 square feet at Lakeway Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot office development located in Metairie, roughly six miles outside downtown New Orleans. Expeditors International, Elliot Bay Design Group and Fleur de Lis Event Designs will join the One Lakeway building occupying 3,473; 2,274; and 1,254 square feet, respectively. Ardurra Group, Sisun and Guilbault Capital have signed leases for 6,144; 6,874; and 1,703 square feet at Two Lakeway, respectively. At Three Lakeway, Array Petroleum has signed a 12,867-square-foot lease. The Feil Organization is the landlord of Lakeway Center, which features amenities including a health club, restaurant, café, coffee shop, copy shop, conference center and a sundry shop. A Marriott hotel is also located at the property. Bruce Sossaman of Corporate Realty represented the landlord in all seven lease transactions.
CHESAPEAKE, VA. — Dollar Tree has acquired designation rights for 170 leases of 99 Cents Only Stores across Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas. This deal was completed through two transactions in May that were approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As part of the transactions, Dollar Tree also purchased the intellectual property of 99 Cents Only Stores and select on-site furniture, fixtures and equipment. In April, California-based 99 Cents Only Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and initiated a process to dispose of its assets, including its inventory, owned real estate and store leases. Dollar Tree anticipates beginning to open some of the shuttered 99 Cents Only Stores under the Dollar Tree brand as early as this fall.
RICHMOND, VA. — MacKenzie Investment Group has signed Georgia-based U.S. Cabinet Depot, a supplier of kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, to a 194,400-square-foot industrial lease within North Richmond Industrial Park. The two-building park is located on a 75-acre site in Richmond and will ultimately span 550,000 square feet. The tenant will occupy space within Phase II of North Richmond Industrial Park, a 315,900-square-foot building at 12063 Washington Highway that is set to deliver this summer. Jimmy Appich and Muscoe Garnett of JLL represented MacKenzie in the lease negotiations, and Jason Hetherington, Brad Lowry and Doug Tice of CBRE represented U.S. Cabinet Depot.
TAMPA, FLA. — JLL has arranged a 26,000-square-foot lease at Silo Bend Office Park, a 650,000-square-foot office development located at 150-182 Kelsey Lane in Tampa. Design firm KCI Technologies is the tenant and will be relocating from its existing 17,000-square-foot space at Meridian Crescent Center. Caleb Lewis of JLL represented the tenant in the lease negotiations, and Jeff Lanning of JLL represented the landlord, Workspace Property Trust.
ST. LOUIS — Global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK has unveiled plans to remain in downtown St. Louis once its lease expires in August 2025. The firm will keep its St. Louis office and 170 employees downtown. HOK currently works out of the Equitable Building at 10 S. Broadway, but is exploring other downtown office locations or the possibility of building out new space in the Equitable Building. HOK’s announcement came following the recent rollout of a new public-private partnership between the City of St. Louis and Greater St. Louis Inc. to accelerate efforts to revitalize the downtown area.