MENLO PARK, CALIF. — San Francisco-based Presidio Bay Ventures has taken over construction, lease-up and stabilization of the 6.4-acre mixed-use development, located at 1300-1302 El Camino Real and 550 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park. The strategic operation of the project, renamed Springline, was transitioned to Presidio Bay mid-construction in June. Since then, the firm’s development team has overhauled nearly all aspects of the project. Situated in Menlo Park’s pedestrian-oriented downtown city center, Springline will feature two 100,000-square-foot Class A office buildings, 183 residences, retail, dining, a dual-level subterranean parking garage and public outdoor space. Approved by Menlo Park City Council in early 2017, original construction for the project started later that year. Delivery of the commercial buildings is slated for fourth quarter and leasing of the residential component is scheduled to begin in second-quarter 2021. Christian Prelle, Mike Courson and Clay Jones of Newmark Knight Frank’s Palo Alto, Calif., office, along with Cassidy Zerrer of NKF’s San Francisco office, are handling office leasing efforts for the project.
Retail
YUCCA VALLEY, CALIF. — T-Mobile has signed a lease to occupy 1,300 square feet of retail space at 57750 Twentynine Palms Highway in Yucca Valley. The end-cap location is within a shopping center anchored by Starbucks Coffee and Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill. The corporate T-Mobile store is expected to open by year-end. Roxy Klein of Progressive Real Estate Partners represented the undisclosed landlord in the deal.
SAN FRANCISCO — A majority of U.S. restaurants and cafés that closed their doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will remain closed for good, according to crowd-source review giant Yelp. In its September economic impact report, the San Francisco-based firm tallied 32,109 restaurants that were open and operating on March 1 were closed on Aug. 31. Of that total, 19,590 (61 percent) indicated they were permanently closed. Yelp tracks business closures via business owners marking their business as closed, including by changing their hours or through a COVID-19 banner on its Yelp page. The tech firm concedes that closure counts are likely an estimate as businesses not included in the report include those that remain open with curtailed hours and staffing, or because they have not yet updated their Yelp business pages to reflect closures. Yelp only counts closures that have been vetted by its User Ops team or have been updated directly by a business owner. According to Yelp’s findings, breakfast and brunch restaurants, burger joints, sandwich shops, dessert places and Mexican restaurants are among the types of restaurants with the highest rate of business closures. Restaurants that work well for delivery and takeout — such as pizza …
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Papa John’s International Inc. has announced it will open a new global headquarters in metro Atlanta by summer 2021. The Louisville, Ky.-based pizza chain is in the process of picking an office space and expects to have a location finalized by the end of this year. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office says the move is expected to bring 200 jobs to the area. Papa John’s will move its menu innovation; marketing; customer experience; human resources; diversity, equity and inclusion; communications; and development departments to Georgia. IT, supply chain and legal teams will remain in Louisville. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Papa John’s will keep its corporate headquarters in Louisville as well as a majority of its 750 jobs in Kentucky.
LOMPOC, CALIF. — Fort Worth, Texas-based MAG Capital Partners has completed the disposition of a single-story retail property located at 1600 N. H St. in Lompoc. Jinushi USA Inc., a real estate investment trust listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as Nippon Commercial Development Co., acquired the 62,500-square-foot end-cap property for an undisclosed price. The separately parceled property is situated on 5.3 acres within Mission Plaza, a shopping center with 26 tenants including Starbucks Coffee, Chase, Albertsons, Big 5, Ross Dress for Less and GNC. Judd Dunning of DWG Capital Group represented the seller, while Jeff Wiggins of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT represented the buyer in the transaction. MAG Capital Partners, led by Principals Dax Mitchell and Andrew Gi, purchased 1600 North H Street in December 2019. The property was then short-term leased to Walmart prior to the sale to Jinushi USA.
CHINO HILLS, CALIF. — Wood Investments Cos. has purchased a single-tenant retail investment property located at 4050 Chino Hills Parkway in Chino Hills. An undisclosed seller sold the asset for $2.5 million. Situated within Chino Hills Parkway Center, 99 Cents Only occupies the 28,240-square-foot property, which was originally built in 1974 for Alpha Beta. Other tenants at the shopping center include 7-Eleven, Jack in the Box, AutoZone and H&R Block. Wood Investments plans to hold the asset for cash flow until the end of the 99 Cents Only lease and will either negotiate a new lease with 99 Cents Only or another essential needs or grocery tenant at market rates. The business plans will take approximately three to five years to complete. Patrick Wade, Alex Kozakov and Jake Hayutin of CBRE’s South Bay office in El Segundo, Calif., represented the seller, while Wood Investments Cos. was self-represented in the deal. Chicago-based JDI Realty is the lender in the deal.
Commerce Department: Retail Spending Up Slightly in August, Fourth Straight Month of Growth
by Alex Tostado
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department reported in its advanced estimate Wednesday morning that retail spending rose 0.6 percent on a month-over-month basis in August. Total sales for the month were $537.5 billion, up from $534.6 billion in July. This marks the fourth straight month retail sales rose since April, when sales plummeted 16.4 percent due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the U.S. economy in mid-March. The National Retail Federation (NRF) said it expected August numbers to slow due to federal assistance waning at the end of July, but the Washington, D.C.-based organization believes consumers are “in good shape” heading into the holiday season. “Over the past several months, consumers have responded well to federal relief measures that have supported the recovery, so it comes as no surprise that they would take a pause on spending as some of these programs tapered off at the end of July,” says Matthew Shay, CEO and president of the NRF. “We continue to advocate for additional stimulus measures to help the economy recover. With the holidays quickly approaching, our retailers are prepared to serve customers to meet all of their holiday needs and are embracing the new holiday tradition of shopping …
DALLAS — A quartet of real estate veterans has launched Segovia Partners, a new firm that will offer advisory and brokerage services to tenants in the retail markets of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and to landlords throughout the United States. Each member of the team of Jack Breard, Jennifer Frank, Michelle Waak and David B. Shelton has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Frank most recently worked with Segovia Retail Partner; Breard and Shelton most recently worked with CBRE; and Waak most recently worked with The Howard Hughes Corp. Over the years, the team’s retail-using clients have included IKEA, Ulta Beauty, P.F. Chang’s and Flower Child. The firm’s office is located at 8080 Park Lane in Dallas and is officially open for business.
NEW YORK CITY — Town Sports International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CLUB), the parent company of New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs and Lucille Roberts gyms, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports from multiple new outlets including CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. The company filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Town Sports, which operates about 200 fitness centers throughout the region, said that it does not plan to permanently close the majority of its gyms, which serve about 600,000 members. The fitness chain joins Dallas-based Gold’s Gym and 24 Hour Fitness as the latest operator to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to COVID-19, which has forced many such facilities to either close or operate at reduced capacities.
RARITAN, N.J. — Burlington has opened a new store at Somerville Circle Shopping Center, a 150,000-square-foot property located at the intersection of Routes 202/206 and Route 28 in Raritan, about 45 miles southeast of New York City. Burlington has backfilled a space formerly occupied by Toys ‘R’ Us/Babies ‘R’ Us. Other tenants at the center include Staples, Petco, Jersey Mike’s, Burger King and Five Below. Levin Management Corp. manages the property. The square footage of the store was not disclosed.