MIAMI — Ready Capital has provided a $7.1 million refinancing loan for a 30,000-square-foot retail center in Miami’s Little River submarket. The undisclosed borrower will continue making cosmetic upgrades to the property. The non-recourse, fixed-rate loan features a seven-year term with declining prepayment protection. The loan includes a facility to provide future funding for capital expenditures, tenant leasing costs and interest shortfalls. Further details of the property were not disclosed.
STERLING HEIGHTS, MICH. — Gerdom Realty & Investment has negotiated two retail leases at Brookside Shopping Center in Sterling Heights. Rehab Without Walls outpatient clinic leased a 3,200-square-foot space and Luma’s Fashion and Alteration leased 1,600 square feet. Only one 10,220-square-foot space remains available for lease at the Planet Fitness-anchored center. Michael Murphy and Tjader Gerdom of Gerdom represented the undisclosed landlord in the new leases.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Furniture Mall of Texas will open a 95,000-square-foot store at Shops at Tech Ridge, a 519,354-square-foot retail power center in Austin. The opening is scheduled for this summer. Lance Morris and P.J. Kaminer of The Retail Connection represented the landlord, RD Management, in the lease negotiations. The store will be the company’s third. Other tenants at Shops at Tech Ridge include Floor & Décor, Fitness Connection, Conn’s HomePlus, Ross Dress for Less, Burke’s Outlet and PetSmart. The company will occupy a space formerly leased to Target.
INDIANAPOLIS — Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) has agreed to acquire an 80 percent interest in Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO), a Michigan-based retail owner-operator, for approximately $3.6 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Simon is buying all of Taubman’s common stock at a price of $52.20 per share in an all-cash deal. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020. The purchase price represents a 51 percent premium over Taubman’s closing price of $34.67 per share on Friday, Feb. 7. Taubman’s existing debt, which Simon will assume, was factored into the price, which represents a capitalization rate of 6.2 percent. Taubman will continue to operate as a separate entity. Taubman’s portfolio spans 26 super-regional malls and power centers totaling more than 25 million square feet of gross leasable space in the United States and Asia. “By joining together, we will enhance the ability of Taubman to invest in innovative retail environments that create exciting shopping and entertainment experiences for consumers, immersive opportunities for retailers and substantial new job prospects for local communities,” says David Simon, CEO of Simon Property Group. Simon Property Group’s stock price opened at $142.11 per share on Monday, Feb. 10, down from $185.30 per …
HARKER HEIGHTS, TEXAS — JLL has negotiated the sale of Market Heights Shopping Center, a 417,167-square-foot regional lifestyle center in the Central Texas city of Harker Heights. Built in 2008, the property sits on 62.2 acres and was 89.4 percent leased at the time of sale. Tenants include Cinemark, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Petco, Ulta Beauty and Bed Bath & Beyond. Adam Howells of JLL represented the undisclosed institutional seller in the off-market transaction, and procured the buyer, Direct Retail Partners. Mark Brandenburg and Tim Jordan of JLL arranged a four-year, floating-rate acquisition loan for the buyer through Bayview Asset Management.
RICHMOND, TEXAS — Locally based builder CJ Development has purchased 42.6 acres at Grand Parkway and West Bellfort Street in the northern Houston suburb of Richmond for a commercial project that will be named Grand Center at Long Meadow Farms. The company previously purchased an adjacent 15-acre tract, creating a total of 58 acres for the new development. The project will feature a 46,000-square-foot retail center, and other tracts will be sold to individual buyers for various uses. Retail tenants that have committed to the center include Members Choice Credit Union, Spring Creek BBQ, Pet Suites, Service First and 7-Eleven. Chris Bergmann Jr. of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the disposition of the land. Alan Chodrow of Chodrow Realty Advisors represented CJ Development. NewQuest Properties is handling leasing of the project.
JACKSON, TENN. — A partnership between DRA Advisors and RCG Ventures has sold West Towne Commons, a 180,960-square-foot retail center in Jackson. The property was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including T.J. Maxx, Five Below, Dollar Tree, Petco, Stein Mart and Office Max. Academy Sports + Outdoors, Kroger and Target shadow-anchor the site, which is situated at 41 Stonebrook Place, seven miles north of downtown Jackson. Jim Hamilton, Brad Buchanan and Mike Allison of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. An affiliate of Yale Realty Services Corp. acquired the property for an undisclosed price.
MENOMONEE FALLS, SUN PRAIRIE AND NEW BERLIN, WIS. — Associated Bank has provided $8.6 million in three separate loans for the land acquisition and construction of early childhood learning centers in three Wisconsin cities. Bradford Real Estate was the borrower. Each of the standalone, 10,000-square-foot buildings will be fully leased by The Learning Experience, which provides childcare and educational services for children ages six weeks to six years. The centers will be located in Menomonee Falls, Sun Prairie and New Berlin. All three are slated for completion this year. Daniel Barrins of Associated Bank managed the loans and closings.
TEMECULA, CALIF. — Poincare Group has purchased Bel Villaggio I-II and Bel Villaggio III, two adjacent retail assets in Temecula. San Diego-based Pathfinder Partners sold the properties $26.1 million. Situated on more than 16.3 acres, the properties are located at 41501 and 41221-41493 Margarita Road, adjacent to Costco and Promenade Temecula. Kirk Brummer, Sean Heitzler and Philip D. Voorhees of CBRE’s National Retail Partners-West represented the seller in the deal.
Retail landlords want to fill space, especially given that large gluts of it have been returned to market as store closures have accelerated, a move that has coincided with entertainment users that want to expand their footprints. But the logistics of bringing entertainment concepts into retail spaces — particularly vacated junior or big box spaces — are very complicated. This holds particularly true for entertainment concepts that involve movies and bowling. Ceiling heights and column spacing, for example, prevent many spaces from being repurposed cost-effectively for entertainment uses like bowling alleys and theaters. In addition, lease terms for these deals are often based on traditional retail metrics like sales per square foot. According to Howard Samuels, president of California-based advisory and brokerage firm Samuels & Co., there is a strong disconnect between entertainment uses and conventional retail real estate that has yet to fully integrate experiential uses or “location-based entertainment (LBE).” “Entertainment retail as a backfiller of boxes is a misnomer,” says Samuels, whose firm specializes in entertainment transactions. “Those users typically don’t want fixed walls and need higher ceiling heights. Most location-based entertainment concepts are very challenging to design, develop, open and operate. These concepts have very specific criteria …