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.
PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. — HFF has arranged a $14.2 million senior loan for Sheridan Village, a 63,654-square-foot retail center and self-storage facility in Pembroke Pines. Scott Wadler and Jesse Wright of HFF arranged the seven-year, fixed-rate loan through Mercantil Bank NA on behalf of the borrowers, construction firm ANF Group Inc. and its affiliate Sheridan Real Estate Group LLC. The borrowers will use the loan proceeds to retire the existing construction loan. Phase I of Sheridan Village was completed in December 2016 and includes 15,098 square feet of retail fronting Sheridan Street. The second phase, completed in December 2017, includes an additional 14,029 square feet of retail and 34,527 square feet of climate-controlled self-storage space, situated on two floors above the ground-floor retail space. Both phases are fully leased or preleased to tenants including Dunkin’ Donuts, Cricket Wireless, Memorial Healthcare System, a pharmacy and an Italian restaurant.
CHICAGO — Westwood Financial has acquired Kingsbury Center in Chicago’s North and Clybourn retail corridor for an undisclosed price. The 53,079-square-foot shopping center is located at 1415-1435 N. Kingsbury St. Completed in 2012, the center is 100 percent leased to Buy Buy Baby, PetSmart, Road Runner Sports and Jimmy John’s. Amy Sands and Clinton Mitchell of HFF represented the undisclosed seller.
The Jacksonville and North Florida retail markets are seeing an increase and influx in new investment activity. Analysts are watching the volume, vacancy rate and new construction, and all signs point to a seller’s market, but compared with other Florida cities, the cap rate and the opportunities are still attractive to retail investors. What sets Jacksonville apart from other cities in Florida and across the country is the area’s strong employment growth and the amount of developable land still available. The rate of employment in Jacksonville is growing at double the national average. In addition, the city continues to attract back-office facilities for major banks and for Amazon, and its seaport is busier than ever. Housing also continues to boom in areas like Northern St. Johns County. According to third-quarter 2017 analyst reports, Jacksonville’s retail vacancy rate went down slightly from 4.6 percent in the previous quarter to 4.5 percent, or 93.5 million total square feet. Absorption totaled 710,101 square feet through the first three quarters of 2017, with about 590,000 square feet ready for occupancy or delivered, and 700,109 square feet under construction. Retail Tenant Shift Nationally, we saw stalled volume of sales during the downturn along with declining …
SANTA ROSA AND NOVATO, CALIF. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sales of two shopping centers in Northern California for a combined value of $47 million. Dan Wald and Don LeBuhn of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the sale of a 49,990-square-foot shopping center in Santa Rosa on behalf of the seller, SPI Holdings. T.J. Maxx and Staples anchor the center. Terry Daly of Cushman & Wakefield arranged acquisition financing for the property on behalf of the buyer, a private capital partnership, who acquired the asset through a 1031 exchange. In the second transaction, Wald and LeBuhn arranged the sale of Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center, a 66,619-square-foot retail center in Novato, on behalf of the seller and original developer. The buyer was not disclosed. Nugget Market anchors Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center, which was 92 percent leased at the time of sale to Chase Bank and 20 other retail and restaurant tenants.
WHITTIER, CALIF. — CBRE has arranged the $40 million sale of Friendly Hills Marketplace, an 89,826-square-foot shopping center in Whittier, located 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Philip Voorhees, Kirk Brummer, James Tyrrell, Megan Wood, Preston Fetrow and Jim Leary of CBRE arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller and property developer, Oppidan Inc. Golden Capital Whittier LLC acquired the asset. Bruce Francis and Shaun Moothart of CBRE arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer. Constructed in 2017, Friendly Hills Marketplace is fully leased to tenants including Orchard Supply Hardware, HomeGoods, ULTA Beauty and Sketchers.
ALBANY AND FOLSOM, CALIF. — ValueRock Realty Partners has purchased two retail properties in Albany and Folsom. The company acquired University Village at 1075-1095 Monroe St. in Albany for $19.2 million and Sprouts Farmers Market at 90 S.E. Bidwell St. in Folsom for $9.2 million. Twin Cities-based Oppidan sold the properties. University Village is occupied by Sprouts Farmers Market, Pet Food Express, Starbucks Coffee, Banfield Pet Hospital and The Habit Burger. Located in Folsom, the Sprouts Farmers Market was recently converted into a Sprouts from an Orchard Supply Hardware.
LAKE FOREST, CALIF. — Baker Ranch Investment LLC acquired Baker Ranch Center, a retail center located at 20491 Alton Parkway in Lake Forest, for $4.8 million. The 6,000-square-foot property is 100 percent triple-net leased to four tenants, including Tenko Sushi & Teriyaki, Ameci Pizza, Sage Nail Lounge and Sheesh Lebanese Kitchen. Patrick Toomey, Thomas Chichester, Joseph Chichester and Matt Brooks of Faris Lee represented the seller, Shea/Baker Ranch, while John Carpenter from The 949 Group represented the buyer in the deal.
CALABASAS, CALIF. — Marcus & Millichap has hired Scott Holmes as senior vice president and national director of its retail division. The industry veteran will be responsible for directing the firm’s retail business strategy nationwide. Most recently, Holmes served as senior vice president at Cole Real Estate Investments Inc., where he was responsible for leading the company’s shopping center acquisitions team, overseeing national investment activities and sourcing acquisitions nationally. Holmes has held leadership roles at AEW Capital Management LP and American Realty Advisors. Over the course of his career, he has closed more than $6 billion in commercial real estate transactions.