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.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — CTO Realty Growth has sold a 6,267-square-foot retail property leased to Wawa in Jacksonville for $7.1 million. The property was delivered in 2017 and features gasoline pumps. Wawa has 17 years remaining on its lease. The asset sits on 2.2 acres at 4866 Gate Parkway, 10 miles southeast of downtown Jacksonville and near St. Johns Town Center. Brad Peterson, Michael Brewster and Joseph Naas of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. An undisclosed private investor purchased the asset.
HOUSTON — Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. and owner-operator MetroNational have begun the redevelopment of the 1.7 million-square-foot Memorial City Mall in Houston into a mixed-use destination. The project began on Tuesday with the demolition of the building formerly occupied by Sears, which was the mall’s original anchor tenant beginning in 1966. Gensler and Stantec are leading the project’s design efforts. Specific uses for the completed redevelopment have not yet been disclosed.
CLEAR LAKE, TEXAS — Vista Cos., a Houston-based development and management firm, has acquired two office and retail properties totaling 30,061 square feet in the Clear Lake area, located on the city’s southeast side. The assets had a combined occupancy rate of 95 percent at the time of sale. James Bell of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Visionary Investors Ltd., in the transaction. Frost Bank provided acquisition financing.
INDIANAPOLIS — During its second-quarter earnings call on Monday, Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) said it is “capitalizing on various value-creating opportunities.” Sparc Group, a joint venture between Simon and Authentic Brands Group, made bids to acquire bankrupt retailers Brooks Brothers and Lucky Brand. Brooks Brothers has selected Sparc as the winning bidder with a $325 million offer. Since Sparc is buying the brands out of bankruptcy, it is acquiring the inventory at or below cost, according to David Simon, CEO and president. In its second quarter that ended June 30, the Indianapolis-based mall giant reported that net income fell to $254.2 million compared with $495.3 million in 2019. As of June 30, occupancy at Simon’s U.S. malls and outlet centers was 92.9 percent. Base minimum rent per square foot was $56.02, an increase of 2.8 percent year over year. Due to COVID-19, Simon closed all of its properties on March 18 and began reopening them on May 1. As of Aug. 7, some 91 percent of the tenants across Simon’s portfolio were open and operating. Simon collected approximately 51 percent of its contractual rent billed for April and May combined, 69 percent for June and 73 percent for July. …