MANTUA TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Mantua Partners LLC and North Bridge Properties will develop a 10-acre medical office and retail project in Mantua Township, located outside Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. Branded as Mantua Shopping Center & Medical Complex, the property will consist of approximately 77,500 square feet of medical office space and 18,000 square feet of retail space. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring and to be complete in the spring or summer of 2022. Soloff Realty & Development has been tapped to lease the project.
BUFORD, GA. — Topgolf Entertainment Group will open a new 72-bay Topgolf venue in Buford in spring 2021. Construction is currently underway at the two-level property, which will feature climate-controlled bays. The asset will be situated within The Exchange at Gwinnett, 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Topgolf Entertainment expects to hire 250 employees at the new site. This will be the fourth Topgolf in Georgia, joining locations in Alpharetta, Midtown Atlanta and Augusta. Fuqua Development is building The Exchange at Gwinnett, which is located adjacent to the Mall of Georgia. The mixed-use project will include office, retail and residential spaces.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, retail and restaurant space has been severely impacted by government-mandated shutdowns. While some stay-at-home orders have been lifted, the sector has struggled to return to its pre-pandemic norms. As a result, lenders have shied away from retail, whether it be construction, refinancing or acquisition loans, according to an expert panel assembled by France Media, Inc. Retail has “lost a lot of favor” with lenders, said Pierce Mayson, managing principal of SRS Real Estate Partners, during a webinar panel titled “Southeast Retail Investment Outlook: Will Retail Investment Activity Bounce Back in 2021?” Southeast Real Estate Business and Shopping Center Business jointly hosted the webinar on Monday, Nov. 16. “There is still some money out there for retail, but it’s few and far between,” said Mayson. Joining Mayson on the panel were Fred Victor, vice president of capital markets and investment sales at Transwestern; Greg Matus, senior vice president of investment sales at Franklin Street; Jeff Enck, associate director of capital investments at Stan Johnson Co.; and moderator Craig Thompson, partner at accounting firm Carr Riggs & Ingram. One telltale sign that banks are bearish on the retail real estate sector is the fact that …
BATAVIA, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the $2.5 million sale of a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers ground lease in Batavia within suburban Chicago. The 3,343-square-foot, single-tenant retail building sits on one acre at 1998 McKee St. Construction of the building was completed this year. Alex Sharrin and Alex Geanakos of JLL represented the seller, Kensington Development Partners. A family trust was the buyer. Raising Cane’s has more than 520 restaurants in 28 states.
SYCAMORE AND SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Knoebel Construction has completed two Jiffy Lube locations in Sycamore and Springfield. The automotive service centers each span 3,500 square feet and each cost $1.2 million to build. Knoebel has also been selected to build six additional Jiffy Lube locations in four Midwest states for Stonebriar Auto Services, a Jiffy Lube franchisee. Those projects are in Cape Girardeau and Nixa, Mo.; Lake Hallie and Manitowoc, Wis.; Jeffersonville, Ind.; and Machesney, Ill. Completion of those facilities is slated for early 2021.
FULLERTON, CALIF. — Calbay Development has completed the disposition of a single-tenant restaurant building located at 1101 S. Harbor Blvd. in Fullerton. A Los Angeles-based high-net-worth buyer acquired the property for $6.2 million, or $2,067 per square foot. Constructed in 2020, the 3,000-square-foot property has a fully entitled drive-thru. Starbucks Coffee occupies the building and recently signed a 20-year, absolute, triple-net ground lease with no termination rights for the asset. Adam Friedlander of JLL Retail Capital Markets represented the seller in the deal.
ATHENS, GA. AND NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division has agreed to purchase a “significant stake” in Athens-based Zaxby’s, with plans to grow the quick-service restaurant chain’s footprint into new markets. Terms of the financing were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close by the end of 2020. Zaxby’s, known for its chicken fingers, wings and signature sauces, has more than 900 locations in 17 states, primarily in the Southeast. Zaxby’s is a privately held company that childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley founded in Statesboro, Ga., in 1990. The founders hope the investment from Goldman Sachs will grow the regional chain into a national brand. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Stephens Inc. served as financial advisors to Zaxby’s. King & Spalding LLP and Fortson, Bentley and Griffin P.A. served as legal advisors to Zaxby’s. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal advisor and Goldman Sachs served as financial advisor to Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking.
MINNEAPOLIS — Citing its multiple shopping channels and merchandising mix, Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) reported Wednesday that its third-quarter comparable sales grew 20.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Digital comparable sales soared 155 percent, accounting for 10.9 percentage points of Target’s comparable sales growth. Same-day services such as order pickup grew 217 percent. “Our strong results in 2020 reflect the benefits of our multi-year effort to build a durable and flexible model, with a suite of fulfillment options,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. “We’ve seen a deepening level of engagement and trust from our guests. The result is unprecedented market share gains and historically strong sales growth, both in our stores and our digital channels.” Target benefits from a “one-stop solution,” stated Cornell in an interview with CNBC. In other words, shoppers can pick up multiple items from groceries to apparel in one trip. Minneapolis-based Target’s stock price closed at $166.85 per share Wednesday, Nov. 18, up from $111.96 per share one year ago. This month, Target reopened two stores in Minneapolis and Atlanta that were destroyed in May due to riots and civil unrest following the George Floyd tragedy. The …
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Cupertino, Calif.-based Hunter Properties has completed the sale of Phase I of Coleman Highline, a 1.75 million-square-foot, mixed-use campus in San Jose. The transaction included two office buildings totaling 360,000 square feet and fully leased to Roku, an amenities building and parking structure. Upon full build out, the Coleman Highline will total eight office buildings, a 175-room hotel and 115,000 square feet of amenity and retail space.
WAKE FOREST AND CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Wegmans will open two new grocery stores in 2021 in Wake Forest and Chapel Hill. The New York-based grocer plans to add 500 full-time jobs and nearly 900 total jobs at the two stores. The store in Wake Forest will span 104,000 square feet and will house 200 full-time employees. The property, located at 11051 Ligon Mill Road, is expected to open in May. The asset in Chapel Hill is expected to open in late February and will house 300 full-time jobs. The store will span 99,000 square feet and is situated at 1810 Fordham Blvd. Also, in North Carolina, a Wegmans in Cary recently sold for $34.9 million.