INDEPENDENCE, OHIO — The City of Independence has approved a series of area development plans and selected Cleveland, Ohio-based Fairmount Properties LLC as a development partner. The city, located about 12 miles south of Cleveland, plans to develop and redevelop various city-owned property in downtown Independence, including the former Independence Middle School, and a 33-acre site in the Northwest Quadrant of Rockside Road. The overall plan focuses on bringing much-needed residential, commercial and public amenities to the community, while the initial scope of the development planning will concentrate on adding new for-sale residential choices to the downtown market. Additionally, a complementary neighborhood retail component is included in the initial planning, which will expand housing options for young professionals, empty nesters and downsizers. The vision for the 33-acre, city-owned property is a mixed-use district with a corporate focus that also incorporates ancillary retail, restaurant, entertainment and residential uses within a compact and walkable street pattern. The city and Fairmount will immediately begin the pre-development process for the projects. The anticipated completion for the initial phases of development is scheduled for 2017.
VALLEY VIEW, OHIO — A partnership has acquired a 17,500-square-foot mixed-use property located at 5345 Canal Road in Valley View, a suburb of Cleveland. A financial institution sold the asset for $610,000. At the time of closing, the property was more than 90 percent occupied. James McHale of Marcus & Millichap’s Cleveland office represented both parties in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Target Corp. has signed a 15-year lease with Muss Development for 20,795 square feet of space at 7000 Austin Street, a mixed-use property located in the Forest Hills section of Queens. The new flexible-format store — the first in the city — is slated to open in mid-2016. The two-story Target will feature an assortment of goods tailored to city dwellers, including fresh groceries, a pharmacy, health and beauty necessities, tech accessories, electronics and home goods designed for single-family homes and condos. Target will take the space currently occupied by Barnes & Noble, which declined to exercise an extension option. Additional tenants at the fully leased property include Starbucks Coffee, Men’s Wearhouse, Eddie Bauer, TITLE Boxing Club and T.G.I. Friday’s. Jeffrey Howard and Doug Weinstein of Ripco Real Estate represented Target, while Muss Development had in-house representation for the transaction.
WYNCOTE, PA. — Philadelphia Rock Gym (PRG) has inked a multi-year lease for a 10,000-square-foot warehouse facility, located at 827 Glenside Ave., Suite 200 in Wyncote. The facility will be PRG’s fourth rock climbing location in the greater Philadelphia area. PRG is an indoor rock climbing gym known for its state-of-the-art climbing walls, full-service fitness centers and private party wall rentals. Swope Lees Commercial represented the tenant in the transaction with the landlord, Midgard Properties LP.
NEW YORK CITY — lululemon athletica inc. has leased 6,400 square feet of retail space at 50 Bond St. in New York City’s NoHo district. The athletic apparel company will occupy the space that Eva Scrivo Salon is vacating. The two-level retail unit features 13-foot ceilings on the ground floor and more than 30 feet of frontage on Bond Street. Designed by Cleverdon & Putzel and built in 1896, the property also features six full-floor residential condominiums. The landlord, Thor Equities, recently acquired the retail unit. Terms of the lease were not released. Eva Scrivo Salon is relocating to 5,500 square feet at 193 Fifth Ave. in the Flatiron district.
HAMMOND, LA. — CBRE has secured a $53 million, 10-year loan for Hammond Square located in Hammond. Jonathan Rice, C.J. Kelly and Porter McDonald of CBRE arranged financing through Morgan Stanley on behalf of the borrower, Stirling Properties. Tenants at the center include Sears, Target, T.J. Maxx, JC Penney, Dillard’s, Ulta Beauty, Best Buy, Academy Sports + Outdoors and AMC Movie Theater.
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — Shane Investment Property Group has brokered the $4.9 million sale of Old Norcross Plaza, a 38,800-square-foot, unanchored shopping center located in Lawrenceville, a northeastern suburb of Atlanta. Comprising two recently built buildings, Old Norcross Plaza was 80 percent leased at the time of sale to local tenants. Jeff Enck of Shane Investment Property Group represented the seller, a private investor based in California, in the transaction. The buyer was an unnamed private fund based in Atlanta.
HOUSTON — EDGE Realty Partners has arranged two retail leases totaling 3,078 square feet at separate shopping centers located in Houston. In the first transaction, EDGE Realty Partners negotiated a 1,730-square-foot lease for OXXO at Sandbridge Plaza at the intersection of Eldridge Parkway and Sandbridge Drive. In the second transaction, the brokerage firm arranged a 1,348-square-foot lease for One Stop Nutrition at Briar Forest Plaza at the intersection of Eldridge Parkway and Briar Forest Drive in Houston. Hannah Smith of EDGE Realty Partners represented the landlord, West Houston Retail, in both transactions. Schuyler Pulford of Remax Commercial represented OXXO, and Jim Hendrix of Streetwise Retail Advisors represented One Stop Nutrition.
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Landmark Properties has acquired The Bancroft Center, a mixed-use site that sits adjacent to UC Berkeley, for $18.5 million. The property is located at 2580 Bancroft Way. The center currently houses nine retail tenants. It also contains the Fred Turner Building, a city-designated landmark that will be preserved in any future development. Frank Wheeler, Brandon Geraldo, Tony Crossley and Tim Maas of Colliers represented the seller, Bancroft Center Company.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of a mixed-use building located at 1260 Broadway in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Situated between Green and Lexington avenues, the 7,000-square-foot property sold for $2.2 million, or $314 per square foot, in an all-cash transaction. The four-story walk-up building consists of three two-bedroom apartments, three one-bedroom apartments and one retail unit. Renovated in 2000, the property is fully free market with preferential rents. A preferential rent is a rent that an owner agrees to charge that is lower than the legal regulated rent that the owner could lawfully collect. Michael Amirkhanian of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction. The names of the buyer and seller were not released.