ALISO VIEJO, CALIF. — MetroGroup Realty Finance has arranged a $10.6 million bridge loan for a retail center in Aliso Viejo. Trader Joe’s anchors the 30,500-square-foot property. Other tenants include the restaurants Eureka! and Lupe’s. The interest-only loan carries a term of 36 months and replaces a maturing commercial mortgage-backed security loan.
PLEASANTON, CALIF. — A joint venture comprising Shopoff Realty Investments, Praelium Commercial Real Estate and an affiliate of Singerman Real Estate LLC has purchased an 8.4-acre property in Pleasanton that was formerly home to a Nordstrom department store. Located at Stoneridge Mall, the property marks the fourth mall purchase for Shopoff in recent years, according to the company’s president and CEO. Shopoff is currently exploring potential uses — including residential, mixed-use and office — for the space. Stoneridge Mall is one of the sites identified for redevelopment by the City of Pleasanton’s 2023-31 Housing Element Plan.
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS — Merlin Entertainments, an operator based in the United Kingdom, will open a theme park in North Richland Hills, a suburb of Fort Worth, that will be dedicated to children’s character Peppa Pig. The size of the park, which will feature multiple rides, interactive attractions, themed playscapes and shows, was not disclosed. The location, which is next to the NRH2O Family Water Park, formerly housed Mountasia Family Fun Center. The opening is slated for 2024. Merlin Entertainments, which operates facilities for concepts including Legoland and Sea Life Aquariums, has a licensing agreement with toymaker Hasbro, which owns the intellectual property rights to Peppa Pig and associated characters.
ROSEDALE, MD. — KLNB has brokered the $7.2 million sale of Kenwood Shopping Center, a 90,961-square-foot retail center located at 6200 Hazelwood Ave. in Rosedale, a suburb of Baltimore. Pikesville, Md.-based America’s Realty and investment partners purchased the center from a private family that has owned the property since it was developed more than 40 years ago. Chris Burnham, Vito Lupo, Andy Stape and Jake Furnary of KLNB represented the seller in the transaction. Kenwood Shopping Center was 92 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Advance Auto Parts, Goodwill and a mix of service and food-and-beverage tenants.
NEW YORK CITY — Luxury health club operator TMPL Fitness will open a 26,000-square-foot venue at 200 Madison Avenue, an office building in Midtown Manhattan that is currently undergoing a renovation. The lease term is 15 years, and the opening is slated for later this year. Neil Seth, Kenji Ota, Kathryn Cruz and Jennifer Konefsky of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Peter Duncan, Matt Coudert and Andrew Conrad of George Comfort & Sons, which owns the building in partnership with Jamestown and Loeb Partners Realty, represented the landlord.
BLOOMINGDALE, ILL. — Burlington has opened a 27,726-square-foot store at the Stratford Crossing shopping center in Bloomingdale. Owned by NewMark Merrill Cos. Inc., the retail property totals 361,074 square feet and is located at 142 S. Gary Ave. Anchor tenants include Mariano’s, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, PetSmart and Hobby Lobby. Burlington relocated from nearby Stratford Square. Joe Parrott, Sean McCourt and Riley McCarron of CBRE represented NewMark Merrill in the lease, while Bobby Melsher of Metro Commercial Real Estate represented Burlington.
WHITEHALL, OHIO — N.R. Investments has started construction of a three-phase, $300 million mixed-use project located at the corner of East Broad Street and North Hamilton Road in the Columbus suburb of Whitehall. The development will be named Rockwell District, according to reports by Columbus Business First. The 50-acre project, which is being developed in partnership with the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corp. and the City of Whitehall, is set to include 1,000 residential units, 250,000 square feet of Class A office space and 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurants upon completion. The residential portion of the property will offer a mix of for-sale and for-rent units, 20 percent of which will be dedicated workforce housing. The redevelopment will be fully integrated with the adjacent Whitehall Community Park, an 80-acre nature park with access to Big Walnut Creek, walking paths and sport fields. N.R. Investments is the master developer for the project. Duany Plater-Zyberk, M + A Architects, Ruscilli Construction Co., EMH&T and additional community partners collaborated with N.R. Investments on the site plan for the development. Phase I is scheduled for completion in 2025. The Ohio Department of Development awarded a $4.2 million grant to the City of …
Interview by Randall Shearin As shopping centers evolve to have more experiential tenants, many owners and operators are looking at design as one way to convey experience to visitors. Adding open-air elements — public gathering spaces, parks, murals —has become popular. Centers are also more open to blending uses than creating retail districts. To gain more insight on the efficacy of these practices and understand how they add value, Shopping Center Business recently interviewed Mitra Esfandiari, partner at Long Beach, California-based RDC, who has worked on a number of forward-thinking centers over the past decade. What follows are her edited responses: Shopping Center Business: How are center owners viewing design as an asset to their properties? Mitra Esfandiari: As architects, we are continuously looking to the future, examining lifestyle, local cultural heritage and demographic trends to be sure we are creating human-centric and authentic places to meet the needs of the community. This approach creates a roadmap that leads the design process for creating experiential and memorable environments that will draw visitors and further entice them to stay longer and repeat their visits. For the past decade, with the emergence of e-commerce and the recent disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer …
WAUKEGAN, ILL. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has negotiated the sale of Waukegan Plaza in the Chicago suburb of Waukegan for an undisclosed price. The 211,190-square-foot retail center is 89 percent leased to tenants such as Ross Dress for Less, Burlington, dd’s Discounts, rue21, Shoe Carnival, Family Dollar, GameStop, Subway, USPS and Aaron’s Rental. Joe Girardi and Emily Gadomski of Mid-America represented the private seller. The asset sold to a West Coast-based 1031 exchange investor.
CHICAGO — Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. (AAC) has purchased Gateway Centre in Chicago for an undisclosed price. The roughly 200,000-square-foot shopping center is located at 7507 N. Clark St. and is 93 percent leased to tenants such as Jewel-Osco, Marshalls and LA Fitness. George Good of CBRE represented the seller, Stockbridge. AAC was represented in-house in the transaction. AAC is a New York City-based private real estate investment firm focusing on retail, hotel and office assets located throughout the United States and Canada.