WESTBURY, N.Y. — Two new entertainment operators — Gatsby’s Board Game Café and I.FLY Trapeze — will open venues at Samanea New York, a 750,000-square-foot entertainment destination on Long Island. Gatsby’s is an interactive experience with a library of more than 400 games that are available to buy and/or play onsite. I.FLY Trapeze offers open-fly sessions, workshops, parties and corporate team-building events. Opening dates were not announced. Lesso Mall Development owns Samanea New York.
By Sam Rolfe, The Lerner Company It seems Omaha’s retail market shows no signs of slowing down from a position of strength, which received a tangible boost when the metro-area population hit the magic 1 million mark. It’s funny that this population hurdle opens the eyes of retailers so much more than 970,000 would, but there’s no doubt that it does, and the market has reacted accordingly, with year-over-year asking rents up 5.4 percent. The seemingly rapid growth and development have not vastly affected the city’s historically strong fundamentals and high occupancy rates however, with the vacancy rate in the metro at 4.4 percent. This low vacancy is partially a byproduct of the historically low supply that has plagued the market in recent years. Over the last decade, we have seen vast westward growth and somewhat stagnant activity in the urban core and central region. Although the westward march continues, it is now coupled with large amounts of urban development, making the city’s retail market strong within eastern submarkets. The old adage “retail follows rooftops” has held true throughout this growth cycle, as retail developments follow the suburban growth of both homes and apartments. One example of this is at …
SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion is investing $484 million to enhance the customer shopping experience with 153 remodeled stores. The stores were unveiled on Nov. 5 throughout the greater Charlotte market. Founded in Salisbury in 1957, Food Lion operates more than 1,100 stores throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. Additionally, Ahold Delhaize USA, the parent company of Food Lion as well as Giant Food and Stop & Shop, recently announced it is investing $860 million for its new East Coast distribution hub in Burlington, N.C.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — The City of Memphis has acquired the Sheraton Memphis Downtown, a 600-room hotel located at 250 N. Main St. in downtown Memphis. The seller, an undisclosed institutional hotel investment firm, and the sales price were not disclosed, though local media outlets are reporting the asset traded for $22 million. Spencer Davidson and Tim Osborne of Hunter Hotel Advisors brokered the transaction. The city is partnering with Carlisle Development Group to overhaul and rebrand the property as Marriott Hotel Downtown Memphis. The hotel currently features 18,131 square feet of onsite meeting space, an indoor pool, fitness center and direct access via an enclosed skywalk to the 300,000-square-foot Renasant Convention Center, which recently underwent a $200 million modernization. Specific plans and construction timelines for the hotel redevelopment project were not released.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Swinerton, working on behalf of developer Space Craft, has topped out Cordo, a $111 million multifamily development located at 512 E. 21st St. in Charlotte’s Optimist Park neighborhood. The development, the fifth between Swinerton and Space Craft, will feature 287 studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, as well as a rooftop terrace, resident lounge/game room with a full kitchen, meeting and coworking spaces, outdoor courtyard and fitness and wellness areas. Designed by Charlotte-based architecture firm Shook Kelley, the project will feature cross-laminated timber (CLT) decks, which will create exposed timber ceilings. Timberlab, sister company of Swinerton, prefabricated approximately 50,000 linear feet of wood wall framing and 185,000 square feet of CLT using pine, spruce and fir in its Greenville, S.C., facility for the development. The project team broke ground on Cordo last fall and expects to deliver the community by summer 2027.
WILLIAMSTON, S.C. — Farpoint has executed a new 10-year lease with BMarko Structures, a manufacturer of modular buildings, at 134 Long Road in Williamston. Farpoint recently delivered the 560,240-square-foot facility in Anderson County, a submarket in the Upstate South Carolina region. BMarko’s new corporate headquarters is expected to create 225 full-time jobs and tap into the skilled workforce and advanced manufacturing presence in the I-85 corridor, according to Farpoint. BMarko’s past projects include the popular Bal Harbour Shops pop-up in Miami, as well as prefabricated data centers.
ATLANTA — Foundry Commercial has arranged a 20,299-square-foot office lease at Interlock, a mixed-use development in Atlanta’s West Midtown district, for AMX Logistics, an asset trucking and third-party logistics firm. The new corporate headquarters lease is expected to create 200 net new jobs for AMX by the end of 2026. Phil Costabile and Lawrence Gellerstedt IV of Foundry represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Aileen Almassy and Will Porter of Partners Real Estate represented the landlord, SJC Ventures.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was revised downward in the final performance projections for the U.S. hospitality sector in 2025, according to the latest forecast from CoStar Group and Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company. RevPAR is projected to finish the year at a decline of 0.4 percent (or negative 40 basis points) compared to a year ago. This would result in the first total-year decline since 2020 and only the second since 2009, both of which were years with major macroeconomic disruptions with the COVID-19 pandemic and Great Financial Crisis, respectively. CoStar and Tourism Economics also lowered occupancy projections to end the year at 62.3 percent, a decline from 63.1 percent at year-end 2024, while average daily rate (ADR) was held steady at +0.8 percent for the year. For 2026, occupancy is projected to decline by another 30 basis points, while ADR and RevPAR are projected to trend positive by 90 and 50 basis points, respectively (see chart). “We expect little change in the macroeconomic environment as unemployment and prices continue to rise,” says Amanda Hite, president of STR, a hospitality research firm owned by CoStar. “As a result, our hotel performance outlook for the remainder of …
LIBERTY, N.C. — Toyota (NYSE: TM) has begun production at its new $13.9 billion battery plant in Liberty, approximately 20 miles southeast of Greensboro, N.C. The 7 million-square-foot facility, which broke ground in 2021, is Toyota’s first and only battery plant outside of Japan and the company’s 11th U.S. plant. Toyota will also make an additional investment of up to $10 billion over the next five years to “support future mobility efforts,” according to company representatives. Toyota has invested nearly $60 billion since the company began its U.S. operations nearly 70 years ago. “Toyota is a pioneer in electrified vehicles, and the company’s significant manufacturing investment in the United States and North Carolina further solidifies our commitment to team members, customers, dealers, communities and suppliers,” says Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA). Toyota North Carolina is expected to create as many as 5,100 jobs. “This new facility will bring new opportunities and long-term growth to our state. It’s another sign that North Carolina continues to lead the way in manufacturing and innovation,” adds U.S. Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina. The 1,850-acre site can produce 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually at full capacity and will serve …
WACO, TEXAS — The City of Waco has unveiled plans for a $1.4 billion redevelopment of its downtown area. The project is a 12- to 20-year initiative that spans five districts and more than 100 acres along the Brazos River. Key components will include the development of a new building that will jointly house the operations of Waco City Hall and the Waco Independent School District. The plan also encompasses a new convention center, performing arts venue, town square/central events lawn, ballpark and enhanced green spaces. The first phase of the development will focus on infrastructure improvements, including floodplain remediation, water/sewer system upgrades, street enhancements and the establishment of a new public plaza.