WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — Musical instrument retailer Guitar Center has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Westlake Village-based company did not announce plans to close any of its 297 stores, but it has retained A&G Real Estate Partners to explore opportunities for its real estate portfolio. In court filings, Guitar Center cited its business of instrument purchases, rentals, repairs and music lessons suffered amid the upheaval stemming from government-mandated shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The New York Times. Approximately 75 percent of its stores were shuttered at one point in the spring. Additionally, the company cited its “significant debt burden” in the court filings. In addition to Guitar Center stores, the company operates four sister brands: Music & Arts, Musician’s Friend, Woodwind & Brasswind and AVDG. Music & Arts, a Maryland-based chain that Guitar Center acquired in 2005, operates 200 stores and 300 affiliate locations that provide band and orchestra instruments and equipment for sale or rentals. Musician’s Friend, which Guitar Center acquired in 1999, is a direct marketer of musical instruments. Likewise Woodwind & Brasswind is a catalogue musical instrument merchant with a …
SHERRILLS FORD, N.C. — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the $13.9 million sale of The Villages Shoppes at Sherrills Ford, a 60,298-square-foot, Publix-anchored shopping center in Sherrills Ford. The developer, Tampa, Fla.-based Wagner Property Group, sold the asset, which is located at the intersection of Slanting Bridge Road and Village Center North, 31 miles north of downtown Charlotte. Other tenants at the center include Hardee’s, Pizza Hut, Great Clips and Blue Sky Nails. Fain Hicks, Margaret Jones and Lane Breedlove of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction. The buyer was Greensboro, N.C.-based Koury Corp.
DONNA AND MISSION, TEXAS — Stan Johnson Co. has arranged the sale of two retail strip centers totaling 26,560 square feet in the Rio Grande Valley. Ruby Plaza is a 15,000-square-foot property in Donna, and Palmhurst Plaza is an 11,560-square-foot property in Mission. Evan Altemus of Stan Johnson represented the buyers, private investors, in both transactions.
YUMA, ARIZ. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a retail property located at 3080 S. Fourth Ave. in Yuma. A Southern California-based investor sold the asset to an undisclosed buyer for $2.1 million, or $538 per square foot, in an all-cash transaction. Built in 2019 on 1.2 acres, the 3,900-square-foot property was 62 percent occupied at the time of sale. Chipotle Drive-Thru occupies 2,400 square feet, with the remaining 1,500-square-foot suite vacant. Sanford Burstyn of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, while JR Shah of Century 21 Discovery in Orange County, California, procured and represented the buyer in the transaction.
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.