The pace of retail construction remains brisk in Wichita with national retailers showing an increased interest in the market. In the first quarter, developers started construction on nine buildings totaling 112,961 square feet, reports brokerage firm NAI Martens. Completions during the first quarter totaled 117,300 square feet. Notable store openings included Sprouts Farmers Market at Central Avenue and Rock Road; Save-A-Lot grocery store at 1640 S. Broadway; Cavender’s western wear store in Greenwich Place at K-96 and Greenwich Road; Andy’s Frozen Custard at NewMarket Square along 21st Street; and a freestanding Starbucks at Wichita State University on the school’s innovation campus. In short, developers in Wichita appear to be making up for lost time. As a result of the Great Recession, the local economy shed 30,000 jobs between 2009 and 2011, many of them related to the aviation industry, according to the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. Commercial real estate activity ground to a halt at that point. “Between 2008 and 2012 and maybe into 2014, we just didn’t have much development at all. There were some plans on the drawing boards, but nothing really reached fruition,” recalls Thomas Johnson, president of NAI Martens. But consumer confidence gradually began to …
Retail
LOS ANGELES — Taubman Centers, Inc. has named four new restaurants that will join Beverly Center’s culinary lineup as part of the shopping and dining destination’s $500 million redevelopment. The restaurants — Cal Mare, Eggslut, Farmhouse and Yardbird — will be located on Level 1. All are expected to open by the end of 2018. A brand new 8,200-square-foot concept from James Beard Award-winning, Michelin-starred Chef Michael Mina, Cal Mare is a celebration of coastal Italian cuisine with Mediterranean and Californian influences. Farmhouse celebrates California’s bounty from local farms, markets, dairies and purveyors, situated within a new informal dining experience in a 7,000-square-foot space. Yardbird will be a 6,000-square-foot homage to farm-fresh ingredients, classic Southern cooking, culture and hospitality, helmed by award-winning restaurateur John Kunkel. Eggslut is a gourmet food concept founded in 2011 as a food truck. Every store is open throughout the renovation that is scheduled to be completed by holiday 2018. Beverly Center has more than 100 distinctive stores, including Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Saint Laurent and Salvatore Ferragamo. The center is anchored by Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. Taubman Centers is engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of 27 regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers …
NORTHBROOK, ILL. — The Missner Group has completed the first phase of renovations at Northbrook Toyota, located about 25 miles north of Chicago. The building is situated at 1550 Frontage Road. The first phase of the project included a renovation to the 25,500-square-foot service area. The Missner Group remodeled the entire building by adding new electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems. Additionally, the Missner Group installed new HVAC systems, a new air filtration system and compressor system designed to generate power for the dealership. Improvements also included the addition of a new car delivery area, an oil containment room, expanded service lanes, remodeled service bays and new bathrooms and offices. Phase II at Northbrook Toyota will include the demolition of an existing building and the construction of a new building, which will serve as a showroom for the dealership. Additional improvements to be completed in this phase include landscaping, site work and the installation of an underground storm trap system. Heath Yarger and Angelo Christopher of the Missner Group comprised the project team for the first phase, while Ron Cinkus will oversee Phase II of the project. Eckenhoff Saunders Architects provided architectural services.
CHICAGO — Maillard Tavern has signed a 1,600-square-foot lease to open a restaurant in Chicago. The burger restaurant, which will also offer ice cream and cocktails, will occupy the space at the southern apex of the Milwaukee Avenue and Halsted Street intersection. The restaurant is slated to open late this summer and will be the third operation for Tony Priolo and Ciro Longobardo. The duo opened their second venture, Nonnina, in 2012 in River North. Danny Spitz, Greg Dietz and Jacqueline Brito of Baum Realty Group LLC brokered the lease transaction on behalf of the landlord, the owners of the adjacent Piccolo Sogno building.
NEW YORK CITY — SCG Retail, a division of The Shopping Center Group, has arranged the lease of a new location for Quality Eats at 3 E. 28th St. in Manhattan. Quality Eats is a steakhouse concept owned by Quality Branded Restaurants. The 5,000-square-foot location is expected to open late this year. Allan Stillman and Michael Stillman founded Quality Branded Restaurants, formerly known as Fourth Wall Restaurant Group, in 2007. The first location for Quality Eats opened more than a year ago in Greenwich Village. The restaurant recently signed a lease for a second Manhattan location on the Upper East Side at 1496 Second Ave. Brandon Berger and Jackie Totolo of RKF represented the landlord, Winter Properties, while Taryn Brandes of SCG Retail represented the tenant in the transaction.
LAS VEGAS — The roof isn’t about to cave in on the retail industry despite a rash of store closures and bankruptcies. Far from it, insists Hessam Nadji, president and CEO of Marcus & Millichap. Core retail sales, which exclude auto and gasoline sales, have risen 28 percent from the peak of 2008 on a nominal basis and 12 percent when adjusted for inflation, according to combined data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and Marcus & Millichap. Unlike the period leading up to the Great Recession, when unsustainable consumer spending was fed by temporary factors such as overleveraging and homeowners using positive equity in their homes as ATMs to fund unaffordable lifestyles, those behaviors have largely been squelched in this recovery, Nadji points out. “We have not overleveraged. We have not stretched the consumer,” Nadji told a crowd of several hundred retail real estate professionals gathered at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel last Monday, May 22, to hear his presentation followed by a panel discussion on the state of the industry moderated by Bill Rose, director of the national retail group at Marcus & Millichap. The hour-long program was part of RECon, the annual dealmaking …
LAS VEGAS — Subway debuted its new Subway Fresh Forward design at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon show in Las Vegas last week. Along with a new Subway logo, flooring, wall coverings, wall art, a curated music program and lighting, the operational flow of the restaurants is changing as well. The workspace will be updated to be more efficient, while additional pieces of equipment, like an exhaust ventilation system, will help maintain temperatures and improve air quality. Subway franchisees have already piloted the new Subway Fresh Forward design in six locations (Knoxville, Tenn.; Orlando, Fla.; Chula Vista, Calif.; Tamarac, Fla.; Vancouver, Wash.; and Manchester, England). In addition, about 50 locations are in various stages of construction around the world and more than 100 restaurants are in the design phase.
KATY, TEXAS— Vista Equities Group has broken ground on the final phase of development of LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch, a 34-acre, mixed-use development in Katy. Expected to be complete in early 2018, the final phase will add a 37,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a five-story parking garage and an additional 7,500 square feet of retail space to the 360,000-square-foot development.
BEAVER DAM, WIS. — Shoe Sensation has signed a 7,240-square-foot retail lease at Heritage Village Mall in Beaver Dam, about 40 miles northeast of Madison. The property is located at 1645 N. Spring St. Joe Kleiman of Mid-America Real Estate-Wisconsin LLC represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease transaction.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — NAI Wisinski of West Michigan has negotiated a 1,526-square-foot retail lease for Urban You Beauty Bar in Grand Rapids. The property is located at 3152 Peregrine Drive. Urban You is a beauty bar that offers hair styling, makeup application, nail design, brows, lashes and medical spa services. The company will use this space as a pop-up shop until its other locations are completed in East Grand Rapids, Knapps Corner and Holland.