WEYMOUTH, MASS. — CBRE has arranged the $23 million sale of Riverway Plaza, a 250,000-square-foot shopping center in Weymouth, a southern suburb of Boston. Lowe’s Home Improvement anchors the center, which sits on 23 acres. Other tenants include Michael’s, Dollar Tree and Staples. Nat Heald and Jordana Roet of CBRE represented the seller and procured the buyer, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
SECAUCUS, N.J. — Abra Health has signed a 24,908-square-foot retail sublease in Secaucus. The operator of pediatric primary care and dental clinics is backfilling a space previously occupied by The Vitamin Shoppe and will utilize the space to centralize its billing operations and establish a call center. Jeff Kolodkin and Andrew Kirshenbaum of Newmark represented Abra Health in the lease transaction.
SAN DIEGO — GPI Cos., in partnership with the University of California, San Diego, has completed the development of 8980 Villa La Jolla Drive, an academic facility in at the corner of La Jolla Village and Villa La Jolla drives in San Diego. The nine-story, 114,000-square-foot building is directly across from the university and serves as a gateway to the main campus. The building includes academic, administrative and research space and will be a hub for students, faculty and patients, as well as the home for various programs offered by UC San Diego Health Sciences and UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies. Additionally, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters will occupy ground-floor retail space at the building. The project team included Gensler’s San Diego office as architect and Swinerton Builders as general contractor. JLL will manage the building.
LIVONIA, MICH. — Penske Automotive Group Inc. has acquired the Bill Brown Ford dealership in Livonia within southeast Michigan. The asset is the world’s largest Ford dealership by sales volume, according to Crain’s Detroit Business. Penske estimates the acquisition will add $550 million in annualized revenue. As part of the acquisition, Penske will acquire more than 200,000 square feet of existing facilities across 29 acres, including a main dealership premises, a pre-owned facility, fleet maintenance center and collision center. Year to date in 2024, Penske has completed acquisitions representing nearly $2 billion in estimated annualized revenue.
AUSTIN, TEXAS AND ORLANDO, FLA. — Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) has agreed to acquire Chuy’s Holdings (NASDAQ: CHUY) for $605 million in an all-cash transaction. The Tex-Mex restaurant chain — which owns and operates 101 full-service restaurants across 15 states — will join Darden’s existing restaurant portfolio, which includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, among others. Under terms of the merger agreement, Orlando-based Darden will acquire all outstanding shares of Chuy’s at $37.50 per share. The purchase price represents a 40 percent premium to the Austin-based company’s 60-day volume weighted price. Chuy’s board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement, which includes a 30-day “go-shop” period that will allow the company to solicit alternative proposals from interested parties. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2025, subject to a number of closing conditions, including approval by a majority of Chuy’s stockholders. Darden acquired Ruth’s Chris in summer 2023 for $715 million. The company’s portfolio of restaurant brands also includes Yard House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze. Darden’s stock price closed at $147.35 per share on Thursday, July 17, down from $163.31 one year ago. …
Entertainment is playing an increasingly important role in the industry, anchoring both new and redeveloped projects and bolstering efforts to backfill large-format boxes. Shopping Center Business recently sat down with Nicole Poole, vice president of hospitality and entertainment at HFA Architecture + Engineering, to chat about design trends in this fast-growing segment. The veteran hospitality architect helped Topgolf develop its concept and currently works with the likes of Home Run Dugout, Blue Jeans Golf, Happy Dave’s, WorldSprings and Smash Park. SCB: What are some emerging design considerations in this category? Poole: Integrating tech and AI continues to be a big subject. But it’s interesting, I just hosted a roundtable discussion at SCB’s Entertainment Experience Evolution (EEE) conference, and there was a lot of interest in getting back to what is sometimes described as human-centric design. It’s what you traditionally see in hospitality, right? Maybe you check in at a nice hotel and notice that there’s a welcome message for you on the flatscreen TV in the lobby. Or when you come back down, the receptionist waves and greets you by name. As we design the next generation of tech- and activity-driven entertainment concepts, it’s important to stay cognizant of the …
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of the ground lease for a U.S. Bank-occupied, net-leased retail property in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. A private investor acquired the asset from a limited liability company for $5.5 million. The transaction included a 4,500-square-foot retail building and a new 10-year, absolute triple-net ground lease with corporate guaranty by U.S. Bank. Built in 2023, the property is located at 14900 N. Pima Road. Mark Ruble, Chris Lind and Zack House of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction.
CHICAGO — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a 30,000-square-foot lease on behalf of Padel Chicago LLC for the first padel location in the city. Padel combines the elements of tennis, squash and pickleball. The property is located at 219 N. Paulina St. Chip Evans of Cushman & Wakefield represented the main investors, Lakeshore Sport & Fitness and Fabian Gosselin, in lease negotiations with the building owner, Walnut Street Properties. Lakeshore Sport & Fitness owns and operates large, multi-sport facilities. Gosselin is a Chicago venture-capital investor whose family has owned and operated a global hospitality and restaurant company for three decades. The Chicago padel facility, slated to open in the first quarter of 2025, will feature five indoor courts. Amenities will include private member lounges, locker rooms, coworking space and a coffee shop and bar.
ST. CHARLES, ILL. — Quantum Real Estate Advisors Inc. has brokered the $8.5 million sale of a 47,000-square-foot retail center in St. Charles, about 40 miles west of Chicago. At the time of sale, the property was 97 percent leased to Syrup, Consume Cannabis, CD One Price, La Huerta Market and other local and national tenants. Brett Berlin of Quantum represented the seller, an Illinois-based developer. The buyer was a private group of investors based in Illinois and New Jersey.
LAFAYETTE, LA. — GBT Realty Corp. has executed leases with new retailers at River Marketplace, a 168,000-square-foot shopping center in Lafayette. J. Crew Factory, Sephora and lululemon have signed leases to occupy a freestanding, 16,700-square-foot building within the shopping center that once housed Books-A-Million, which shuttered earlier this year. All three retailers are expected to open in early 2025. A final 3,450-square-foot space remains available for lease in the building. Situated on a 43-acre site, River Marketplace is anchored by a Super Target. The property is currently 99 percent leased to tenants including Ross Dress for Less, Total Wine & More, Rack Room Shoes, Cato, 2nd & Charles, Toasted Yolk Café, Buckle, Crumbl Cookies and Games Workshop.