NEW YORK CITY — Children’s Museum of Manhattan has acquired a new property located at 361 Central Park W. in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. 361 Central Park West LLC sold the property for $45 million. Children’s Museum of Manhattan plans to move its primary operations at 212 W. 83rd St. to the new location, which is a landmarked structure and a former church designed by Carrère & Hastings. The museum plans to open at the new location in 2021. Andrew Chonoles, Ross Yustein, Christopher Terry and Michael Scharpf of law firm Kleinberg Kaplan represented the museum in the acquisition.
NEWPORT, KY. — Albanese Cormier Holdings has acquired a two-property shopping center portfolio in Newport for an undisclosed price. The adjacent properties — Newport Plaza and Newport Shopping Center — are located at 82 Carothers Road and 1727 Monmouth St., respectively. Newport Plaza is home to tenants including Dollar Tree, Fresh Thyme, Planet Fitness and Verizon Wireless. The 264,196-square-foot Newport Shopping Center houses tenants such as Aaron’s, ACE Hardware, Defender Direct, Dollar General, Family Dollar and Taco Bell. Scott Katz of Midland Retail arranged the transaction on behalf of the undisclosed seller.
ST. PETERS, MO. — CBL & Associates Properties Inc. will renovate its Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters, about 30 miles west of St. Louis. A new H&M store will open at the property this fall, requiring three other retailers to relocate to different spaces within the mall. H&M is a women’s and men’s apparel store. Claire’s will move to a 1,250-square-foot store on the lower level. Justice will relocate to a 4,100-square-foot space on the lower level near Dillard’s and Lane Bryant will move to a 5,000-square-foot space on the lower level in the Dillard’s wing. Next month, a pop-up shop will open at the mall, enabling local boutiques to try their business in a mall setting for one week at a time. Other interior projects at the mall include replacing the escalators, improving the elevators and installing new digital directories. All interior projects are slated for completion by this summer. As for exterior improvements, the parking lot will be upgraded to include LED lighting and 24 more poles will be installed. The majority of the lot will be resurfaced this year and the remaining portion will be completed in 2019.
DALLAS — The Ainbinder Co., the developer of High Point Crossing retail center in northeast Dallas, has signed four anchor tenants to the 180,000-square-foot development. Academy Sports + Outdoors, Marshalls, Burlington and Five Below will serve as anchor tenants at the property, which is under construction and expected to open in the fall. Jeff Kittleson, Robert Aycock and Andrew Aycock of CBRE represented The Ainbinder Co. in the lease negotiations.
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS — Venture Investment Sales has brokered the sale of an 8,700-square-foot retail center in Lewisville. The property’s location at 5040 State Highway 121 is adjacent to Grandscape, a 400-acre mixed-use development. Tenants include T-Mobile, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Texas Direct Auto. John Zikos, Jonathan Cooper and Don Miller of Venture represented the seller. A local family trust purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
KATY, TEXAS — NewQuest Properties has unveiled plans for the Phase II expansion of Katy Grand, a 21.7-acre, cinema-anchored retail development in Katy. Phase II will deliver 36,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on 7.4 acres in late fall. Leases with three new tenants — Japanese book retailer Kinokuniya, Taiwanese eatery 85C Bakery Café and Kula Revolving Sushi Bar — have already been signed.
What’s that thing everyone always says about millennials? That they crave new experiences, novel environments and locally produced items that have a story — or at least a little substance — behind them? Yes, that’s it. Ask and ye shall receive. They’ll even ship this request to you. Well, maybe not right to your door, but straight off a boat and into your nearest underused plot of viable land. We’re talking shipping containers, which have become the new avant-garde approach to traditional retail experiences. “I think any time you can find a new creative use for an item or a space it is going to capture interest,” says Hartley Rodie, who is developing the Churchill, a 16-container shopping and dining project on North 1st Street in Phoenix that is scheduled to open in fall 2018. Being a millennial himself, Rodie and his partner, Kell Duncan, both 29, were inspired to undertake this new project after examining what was missing — both within their own lives and within their community. “Neither of us felt fulfilled by our areas of focus, so the question became ‘what’s next?’” he says. “I knew whatever it was going to be, for me, it was important to …
SAN FRANCISCO — NKF Capital Markets has arranged the sale of Diamond Heights Shopping Center, a 75,630-square-foot retail center in San Francisco. Nicholas Bicardo, Brandon Rogoff and Bryce Holman of NKF Capital Markets arranged the transaction on behalf of the private seller. Donahue Schriber acquired the asset for an undisclosed price. Safeway anchors the center, which is also home to Walgreens, Bank of America and the United States Postal Service.
WESTWOOD VILLAGE, CALIF. — Kennedy Wilson has brokered the a $2.7 million retail lease for The Waffle, located at 10925 Weyburn Ave. in Westwood Village. Owned by Gain Polone and John Papsidera, the restaurant is moving into the space formerly occupied by Jerry’s Deli. The modern casual restaurant offers breakfast and lunch options. Christine Deschaine of Kennedy Wilson represented the landlord, Tucker Investment Group, while Newmark Knight Frank represented the restaurant.
BOISE, IDAHO — Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a fast-casual cafe concept, opened 101 new cafes in 2017 and signed 187 agreements that will grow the brand’s footprint in markets nationwide. The company aims to reach 1,000 locations by 2020. In its 20th anniversary year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe reached milestones including the opening of its first location in Idaho, 50th in Michigan and 630th cafe overall. Amidst the ongoing growth throughout 2017, Tropical Smoothie Cafe also appointed six industry veterans including Rob Collins as chief marketing officer, Pete Ward as general counsel, Paul Marsden as chief financial officer, Jaime Denney as senior vice president of operations, Cheryl Fletcher as vice president of franchise development strategy and Kristi Kingery as vice president of supply chain.