FRESNO, CALIF. — Retail California, a division of Pearson Realty, has brokered two retail sales totaling 69,208 square feet in Fresno. In the first transaction, Fresno Coin Gallery Jewelry and Loan Inc. acquired a 9,208-square-foot retail space at 1727 E. Gettysburg Ave. from Dean & Arlene Sigle Trust. Michael Kennedy and John Lee of Retail California negotiated the transaction. In the second deal, Ag Land Joint Venture acquired a 60,000-square-foot retail building at 4550 and 4582 N. Blackstone Ave. from Rich Development/Gryphon Capital. Lewis Smith of Retail California, along with Mark Saito of Saito Company, brokered the transaction. The acquisition prices were not released for either sale.
SAN DIEGO — Friars-Riverdale Ltd has completed the disposition of Friars-Riverdale Center, a retail center located at 10383-01397 Friars Road in San Diego. Lai Family LP acquired the 32,696-square-foot property for $2.8 million. The property is fully leased to a mix of retail and office tenants. Brian Crepeau and Icela Galaz-Wittkopp of Pacific Coast Commercial represented the seller, while Judy Chou Hsieh of Greater Realty Inc. represented the buyer in the transaction. Renee Marshall of Chicago Title Company provided escrow services, and Ken Cyr, also of Chicago Title Company, provided title services.
GLENDALE, CALIF. — College Plaza, a 5,528-square-foot retail building in the Los Angeles submarket of Glendale, has sold to James Hsu for $6.3 million. The building is located at 1500 Canada Blvd. It was built in 2005. Notable tenants include Coffee Bean and Flame Broiler. The buyer was represented by Peggy Chen of Ko Tai Realty. The seller, Hovik Khatchaturian of Turian Properties, was represented by Alex Vasquez of Stevenson Real Estate Services.
MIAMI — Swire Properties Inc., in partnership with retail co-developers Whitman Family Development and Simon Property Group, has signed two new luxury retailers to join Brickell City Centre’s 500,000-square-foot shopping center. The shopping center, set to open in fall 2016, is part of the $1.05 billion, 5.4 million-square-foot Brickell City Centre master-planned development in downtown Miami. The two new retailers are Valentino, an Italian fashion retailer, and Chopard, a Swiss Watch and jewelry designer. The two new retailers will join announced tenants Saks Fifth Avenue, Quinto La Huella restaurant and rooftop bar, Sugar — located within EAST, Miami Hotel — and luxury theater Cinemex. The condominium, office and hotel components of Brickell City Centre are set to open beginning at the end of 2015.
DUBLIN, CALIF. — Dublin-based Ross Stores Inc. will open five new Ross Dress for Less locations in Tennessee, Indiana, North Carolina and Illinois. New stores include a location at Thatcher Woods Center, 12 miles northwest of downtown Chicago; a location at Kensington Center in Plainfield, Illinois; a location at Lincolnton Center, 40 miles Northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina; a location at Village Commons in Evansville, Indiana; and a location at The Crossings at Dickson in Dickson, Tennessee. All locations are set to open July 18.
The business and employment gains in the Tampa Bay market are helping landlords attract new retail names to the market to fill space and subsequently raise rents. The area shows good signs of a healthy market, with strong leasing activity and a growing need for new development. The retail vacancy rate continues to drop, ending 2014 at 6.3 percent versus 6.9 percent in the first quarter of that year, according to CoStar. Rents are positively going the other way, rising to $13.73 per square foot from $13.57 per square foot over the same time periods. Space is extremely tight in some submarkets, just 2.1 percent in south Tampa and northeast Tampa, and 4.5 percent in the larger I-75 corridor at the end of last year, according to CoStar. The lack of space can be attributed in part to the slow pace of new construction. Developers and their lenders are being more cautious, having learned lessons from the last recession. At the same time, a number of new concepts, all of which are good for the market, are arriving in Tampa Bay. The current situation puts landlords in even more control than they had last year. They’re using this period to …
PLANO, TEXAS — Pierson Retail Advisors (PRA) has arranged the sale of Ruisseau Village, a 124,567-square-foot shopping center. The property is located at the northwest corner of West Parker Road and North Central Expressway in Plano. PRA represented the seller, West Plano Retail LLC, in the transaction. A California-based buyer purchased the asset for an undisclosed price. Jennifer Pierson and Beth Pierson of PRA’s Dallas office arranged the sale.
DALLAS — NAIOP has selected Majestic Realty Co. as its 2015 Developer of the Year. Headquartered in Southern California, with regional offices throughout the United States, Majestic is the largest privately held industrial developer in the country. Majestic completed nine new buildings in the past year, adding more than 6 million square feet and increasing its ownership portfolio to 78 million square feet. Majestic also recently completed a 2,000-acre land acquisition in Laredo, Texas. Majestic’s services include land acquisition, entitlement, design/construction, finance, leasing and property management.
ATLANTA — CBRE has arranged the $81.6 million sale of a four-asset portfolio comprising four freestanding, single-tenant Lowe’s Home Improvement stores in the Atlanta metropolitan area totaling approximately 532,735 square feet. Chris Bosworth, John Read, Will Pike, Philip Voorhees, Jimmy Slusher and Brian Pfohl of CBRE represented the seller, IRA Capital LLC, in the transaction. American Realty Capital Properties Inc. purchased the portfolio. Each Lowe’s location has a long-term lease, which was recently extended by 10 years with six, five-year options to extend.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — Harbor Group International LLC (HGI) has acquired 357 North Beverly Drive, a 14,144-square-foot urban retail property in Beverly Hills, for $40 million. The property is fully leased on a triple net basis to C.O.S., a subsidiary of H&M, on a long-term lease. HGI partnered with Image Capital on the transaction.