TROY, MO. — Fast-casual restaurant Slim Chickens has opened at 31 The Plaza in Troy, about 55 miles northwest of St. Louis. R-Chicken, a division of R-Solution, is the franchise operator for the Troy location. Since its founding in 2003, Slim Chickens has expanded to more than 100 locations in 17 states. The goal is to open 600 restaurants by 2025, according to a news release. Slim Chickens serves fried chicken and Southern-inspired side dishes.
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Sunnyvale City Council has approved a Downtown Specific Plan and Development Agreement that allows for the next phase of CityLine Sunnyvale to begin. STC Venture, a partnership between Sares Regis Group of Northern California and Hunter Properties, is developing the multi-phase redevelopment project in downtown Sunnyvale. The new phase will add 792 residential units and 653,000 square feet of office space above 182,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space on four parcels along Murphy and McKinley avenues. The overall CityLine Sunnyvale project — a 36-acre, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use district —also features a large public plaza, as well as shopping and entertainment space. The new phase will include a Building B offering 150,000 square feet of office space and 8,000 square feet of retail space and the redevelopment of Redwood Square into Block 3S featuring 480 apartments (11 percent designated affordable) with 30,000 square feet of retail space. Construction of the new phase is scheduled to begin in early 2021. The phase also includes the redevelopment of the former Macy’s into 500,000 square feet of office space and 60,000 square feet of retail space, the development of Block 6 with 312 apartments (11 percent affordable) with 35,000 square feet of …
MOOSIC, PA. — Apparel and jewelry retailer Versona has signed a 10,000-square-foot retail lease at The Shoppes at Montage Mountain, a retail center located in Moosic in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. The official opening is slated for September 24. Approximately 95 percent of the center’s tenants that were affected by the pandemic have since reopened. U.S. Properties Group owns the center.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Retail sales in July rose 1.2 percent on a month-over-month basis, the U.S. Commerce Department reported in its advanced estimate this morning. Total sales for the month clocked in at $536 billion, up from $529.4 billion in June. The Commerce Department reported sales reached $527 billion in February, marking the first time during the pandemic that retail sales have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the Commerce Department revised its May to June growth up 90 basis points to 8.4 percent. Despite the growth, the total volume of retail spending wasn’t as robust as economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected. Economists forecast a 2.3 percent increase from June. A major reason for the sales coming in lower than expected was due to auto sales falling behind. The Commerce Department reports that excluding auto sales, retail would have grown 1.9 percent. Though the growth is slowing, the National Retail Federation (NRF) says the July figures add to the turnaround seen since the spring’s decline, namely when sales dipped 16.4 percent in April. “Retail sales for July were another positive step in the right direction as our economy continues to slowly reopen,” says Matthew Shay, CEO and president of the NRF. …
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Machine Investment Group, a newly created New York-based real estate investment platform, has launched its business with the purchase of Stevens Creek Executive Park in San Jose. An undisclosed seller sold the asset for $54.5 million. Machine Investment acquired the property in partnership with Miramar Capital Advisors. Situated on 9.2 acres, Stevens Creek Executive Park consists of 164,986 square feet of existing office space, plus entitlements for the development of 582 multifamily units, 10,000 square feet of retail space and additional office space. The executive park is located within Stevens Creek Urban Village Plan and the Cupertino Union School District, less than two miles from Apple’s global headquarters and the Santana Row shopping district. Under the leadership of real estate veterans Andy Kwon and Eric Rosenthal, Machine Investment Group focuses on opportunistic, distressed and special-situation commercial real estate across the United States.
LOS ANGELES — Fresh. Authentic. Tasty. (FAT) Brands has agreed to purchase the Johnny Rockets restaurant chain from an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners for $25 million. The deal will be funded through cash on hand and proceeds generated from FAT’s securitization facility. The transaction is slated to close in September. With the acquisition of Johnny Rockets, FAT Brands will have more than 700 franchised and company-owned restaurants around the globe with annual system-wide sales exceeding $700 million. Johnny Rockets was founded in 1986 with its first location on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The 1950s-themed restaurant serves freshly made, classic burgers and hand-spun real ice cream shakes. Johnny Rockets currently has more than 325 locations across the United States and internationally, including nine company-owned locations. Duff & Phelps served as financial advisor to Sun Capital Partners and Morgan Lewis & Bockius acted as legal counsel to Sun Capital Partner. Loeb & Loeb acted as legal counsel to FAT Brands and Andersen Tax served as tax advisor to FAT Brands.
LAKE ELSINORE, CALIF. — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has arranged the sale of a multi-tenant retail building within Lake Elsinore Marketplace, a shopping center in Lake Elsinore. Irvine-based Pacific Castle sold the asset to a Torrance-based private investor for $3.8 million. Built in 2006 at 29261 Central Ave., the 7,203-square-foot pad building is fully occupied. Tenants include Navy Federal Credit Union, iBrows Threading Salon, Submarina and Juice It Up!. Anchors at the larger, 144,034-square-foot Lake Elsinore Marketplace include Costco, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Grocery Outlet, PetSmart and Dollar Tree. Kevin Fryman and Bill Asher of Hanley represented the seller in the deal.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Dallas-based developer StreetLevel Investments has opened the 250,000-square-foot Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch retail power center in Fort Worth. Specific stores that have opened at the center, which is 90 percent leased, include Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Tuesday Morning, AT&T, Sprint and others. Restaurants now open include Chick-fil-A, Whataburger and MOD Pizza. The 40,000-square-foot Studio Movie Grill is expected to open at the end of summer.
MASON, OHIO — Deerfield Towne Center, a shopping center in Mason near Cincinnati, is set to welcome three new tenants. COhatch is a coworking, meeting and social space with locations in Ohio and Indiana. AKT is a fitness studio that combines interval, strength and conditioning training with dance. Condado Tacos is a Mexican restaurant with a build-your-own taco concept and an extensive selection of tequilas and margaritas. The Columbus-based restaurant has expanded throughout the Midwest and Pennsylvania. Other recent tenant openings at Deerfield Towne Center include StretchLab, a wellness concept offering customized stretch sessions, and Japanese restaurant Genki Ramen. Built in 2004, Deerfield Towne Center is home to Whole Foods Market, Ashley Furniture, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond and Crunch Fitness.
HELPER, UTAH — Ostler Holding Limited Company of Utah LLC has completed the disposition of a retail building located at 610 US-6 in Helper. An in-state limited liability company acquired the asset for $1.3 million. Built in 2019 on 1.4 acres, the property features 8,320 square feet of retail space. Family Dollar occupies the building on a double net lease with 8.5 years remaining on the term. Drew Isaac and James Rassenfoss of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction.