WEST ALLIS, WIS. — Five Below has signed a 9,586-square-foot retail lease at West Allis Towne Centre in West Allis, six miles west of Milwaukee. The shopping center is located at 6768 W. Greenfield Ave. Tony Colvin and Dan Cohen of Mid-America Real Estate-Wisconsin LLC represented the tenant in the lease transaction.
LAREDO, TEXAS — Retail Solutions has secured a 25,000-square-foot lease at Laredo Town Center, a retail center located at 5511 Bob Bullock Expressway. Chris Flesner of Retail Solutions and Jim Weir of The Retail Connection represented the landlord in the transaction Jim Tapp of The Tapp Co. represented the tenant, Ross Dress for Less.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Atlanta-based Branch Properties and DeFoor Development plan to develop The Village of Waterside, a 162,000-square-foot shopping center in Chattanooga’s Hamilton Mill neighborhood. The property, which will be anchored by Publix and REI, will be situated on 22.8 acres at the intersection of Shallowford and Gunbarrel roads. This will be the first Chattanooga store for REI, an outdoor gear and apparel retailer. Branch and DeFoor expect to deliver The Village of Waterside in late summer 2018.
SIDNEY, OHIO — Cooper Commercial Investment Group has negotiated the sale of a single-tenant property net leased to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Sidney for $1.5 million. The property is located about 40 miles north of Dayton near I-75. Chipotle signed a 10-year lease in 2016. Dan Cooper of Cooper Commercial represented both parties in the sales transaction. The buyer, an Ohio-based private investor, purchased the property in a 1031 exchange. The seller was a private investment group also based in Ohio.
ROYAL OAK, MICH. — Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions has brokered the sale of a 2,585-square-foot retail building in Royal Oak, about 15 miles north of Detroit. The sales price was not disclosed. PNC Bank owned and occupied the building located at 1710 E. 12 Mile Road. Robert Hibbert and Todd Hawley of Friedman represented both the seller and the buyer, 2015 Bellaire LLC.
BURLINGTON, VT. — Rouse Properties has formed a joint venture with Devonwood Investors LLC, owner of Burlington Town Center, to redevelop the retail property into a mixed-use development with apartments, retail, restaurants and offices. The joint venture is expected to close on the property in the next few weeks and will then begin construction on the project, which is expected to cost $225 million. HFF’s Porter Terry arranged the redevelopment financing. The project has received zoning approval from the Burlington Development Review Board. Groundbreaking is expected in mid-2017, with the project completed in phases over three years.
SPRING HOUSE, PA. — MRA Group has acquired the former Rohm & Haas research and development campus located at 727 Norristown Road in the Philadelphia suburb of Spring House. Now known as the Spring House Technology Park, the complex spans 591,000 square feet across 11 buildings. The 133-acre campus is located near the Fort Washington exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. MRA will renovate the park to include office and laboratory facilities, a hotel, co-working space, on-site daycare, a gym and a 40,000-square-foot retail village. The property was initially acquired in 1962 by Rohm & Haas Co. and developed into Spring House Technical Center, a research and development campus. The existing buildings were constructed between 1963 and 1995, with 75 percent dedicated to laboratory use and the rest used for offices. The Dow Co. acquired Rohm & Haas in 2012, and by 2015 Dow relocated its employees to a new facility in Collegeville, Pa. In 2015 MRA Group entered into discussions with Dow to acquire the property in its entirety, with closing occurring in late March 2017.
GREECE, N.Y. — Colliers International has represented the buyer in the $16.9 million purchase of a freestanding BJ’s Wholesale Club located at 300 Bellwood Dr. in the Rochester suburb of Greece. The net leased structure spans 119,600 square feet on 11 acres and includes 485 parking spaces. The Colliers retail team of William Aiello, George Lulos and Larry Kostelac represented the buyer, Professional Properties LLC.
NEW YORK CITY — Despite a rash of bankruptcies and store closures by major retailers during the first quarter of 2017, the U.S. retail market overall is quite healthy, according to a report by Reis, a New York-based commercial real estate analytics firm. To gather its data, Reis tracked multi-tenant neighborhood and community shopping centers of 10,000 square feet or larger in 77 primary metro areas throughout the United States. Last week, Payless ShoeSource became the 10th retailer to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so far this year, according to CNBC. Others include Gander Mountain, BCBG Max Azria, Wet Seal, Limited Stores, Gordmans Stores, hhgregg, Eastern Outfitters, RadioShack, General Wireless Operations and Michigan Sporting Goods Distributors. Aeropostale also closed nearly 600 locations in 2017, while Sports Authority gave back 460 storefronts after its liquidation. Macy’s, JC Penney and Sears are undertaking additional store closures Despite the headline-grabbing stories that would imply retail is struggling, Reis reports that the vacancy rate held steady at 9.9 percent during the first quarter of 2017 — identical to both the previous quarter and previous year. Both asking and effective rents increased as well. Asking rents rose to $20.55 per square foot, an increase of …
INDIANAPOLIS — Appliance, electronics and furniture retailer hhgregg Inc. is liquidating its assets. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana approved the initiation of the liquidation process, which began April 8. As previously announced, Tiger Capital Group LLC and Great American Group LLC will conduct a sale of the merchandise and equipment located at the company’s retail stores and distribution centers. Headquartered in Indianapolis, hhgregg was unable to secure a buyer within the expedited timeline set by creditors after previously filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 6. The company expects to close all 220 stores by the end of May, resulting in about 5,000 layoffs across the country, according to The Indianapolis Star, the local newspaper. hhgregg has not disclosed a complete list of stores, but click here to see the previously announced store closings listed as part of the bankruptcy filing. Approximately 60 hhgregg stores are located in the Midwest.