HOUSTON — Restaurateur Mack McDonald will open a 15,858-square-foot restaurant in Uptown Houston. The restaurant will be located within 5POP, a 28-story, 566,773-square-foot office building, and will be operated under the Mack Allen’s upscale seafood brand. David Littwitz with Littwitz Investments represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Crystal Allen with Transwestern represented the South Florida-based landlord, CP Group. The opening is slated for 2025.
LAKE ZURICH, ILL. — Principle Construction has completed a bakery build-out for Apres Pastry & Bakery in downtown Lake Zurich, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The tenant occupies the last remaining space within the building that Principle constructed in 2023. Principle added a new common entrance and pedestrian access corridor from the rear parking lot. The project included various mechanical, electrical, fire protection and plumbing systems as well as the installation of a walk-in freezer. Muran Architects served as the project architect, while Siren Betty designed the interior.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) will open a new restaurant and biergarten venue at 15025 Bowl St. at The Bowl at Ballantyne, a mixed-use development underway in Charlotte’s Ballantyne district. In addition to a 14,000-square-foot building comprising two levels of restaurant, retail and balcony space, the property features a one-acre biergarten and two freestanding buildings with beverage service and bathrooms. This marks the second location for OMB, with the original location in Charlotte’s LoSo neighborhood. Northwood Retail, the landlord of The Bowl at Ballantyne and an affiliate of Northwood Investors, recently signed a lease with Hawkers Asian Street Food to join the tenant roster in early 2025.
BEAUFORT, S.C. — National retailers T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods are set to open new stores at Beaufort Station, a 200,000-square-foot shopping center coming on line in the Hilton Head suburb of Beaufort. Both brands are set to open tomorrow. The Morgan Cos. is the developer of Beaufort Station, which will feature nine anchor and junior anchor stores, including Hobby Lobby, Ross Dress for Less, PetSmart, Ulta Beauty, Old Navy, Five Below and Rack Room Shoes. Other tenants will include Aldi, Parker’s Kitchen, Panda Express, Chicken Salad Chick, Surcheros Fresh Mex, America’s Best and Mattress Firm. Other tenant announcements are expected in the near future. Beaufort Station is situated at the intersection of S.C. Highway 170 and Robert Smalls Parkway, about 27 miles north of Hilton Head.
MILLVILLE, N.J. — New tenants have signed leases totaling 46,000 square feet at Union Lake Crossing, a 393,000-square-foot retail center located in Millville in southern New Jersey. Old Navy will open a 15,000-square-foot store at the property, joining Fun City in backfilling a former Dick’s Sporting Goods space. Food-and-beverage concepts Five Guys, Poke Bros. and Crumbl have also signed leases at the center, as have Skechers, Inspira Health and Rally House. Mario Brunelli and Chelsea Reizner of R.J. Brunelli & Co. represented the owner, Irgang Group, in all lease negotiations.
DENVER — Magnetic Capital has broken ground on 2nd & Adams, a mixed-use building located at 2nd Street and Adams Avenue in the Cherry Creek submarket of Denver. Slated for completion in third-quarter 2025, 2nd & Adams will feature 80,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of retail space. The building will have multiple food, beverage and retail concepts across the ground-floor space, and the rooftop will feature a 5,600-square-foot bar and restaurant. Bow River Capital, a Denver-based private alternative asset manager, has pre-leased 30,000 square feet of office space at 2nd & Adams for the company’s headquarters. The project team includes OZ Architecture as architect and Mortenson Construction as general contractor. Blake Holcomb of CBRE is handling leasing for the project.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — A partnership between Hines and Cresset Partners has begun construction on the redevelopment of 429 Houston, a 30,000-square-foot industrial and mixed-use property in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. The partnership will transform the property, which Hines purchased in December 2019, into a retail destination with shops and restaurants. The redevelopment will include adding a large, wraparound outdoor patio, expanding the property’s square footage, installing new parking and building systems, executing site infrastructure and improving the property’s landscaping and hardscaping. Additionally, the partners have signed two new tenants — Bodega Taqueria y Tequila and Aba — that will open by mid-2025. Existing tenant Jackalope Brewing Co. will stay in its current 16,200-square-foot space at 429 Houston and remain open throughout the redevelopment.
WOODSTOCK, GA. — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the $3 million ground lease sale of a newly built restaurant property located at 9893 Highway 92 in Woodstock, about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. Raising Cane’s occupies the property on a 15-year, corporate guaranteed lease. Michael Berk, Patrick Nutt and William Wamble of SRS represented the seller, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Warren Commercial Real Estate, in the transaction. The buyer was a private investor based in California.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — New England Development will open CanalSide Food + Drink, a new food hall in Cambridge, this fall. Situated within the developer’s CambridgeSide mixed-use development, the food hall will feature a bar — dubbed C-Side Bar — as well as 14 eateries. Announced concepts include anoush’ella, Caffé Nero, Chilacates, DalMoros Fresh Pasta To Go, Fresh, InChu, Lala’s Neapolitan-ish Pizza, Nu Burger, Sapporo Ramen and Teazzi Tea Shop. RODE Architects designed the food hall, and Whiting-Turning is serving as the general contractor. The opening is slated for this fall.
The retail sector in South Florida is undergoing adjustments that reflect the region’s dynamic economic landscape and evolving consumer preferences. One notable trend is evident in the restaurant sector, where owners increasingly aim to expand by opening new locations and entering lucrative markets. This trend is primarily driven by consumer spending, particularly the continual growth of Miami’s tourism industry. Visitors directly inject capital into the local economy, leading to increased disposable income that often circulates back through experiential commerce such as restaurant sales. A clear indicator of the local market’s strength is the ongoing rise in rental asking rates, significantly surpassing national averages. A robust 4.6 percent upturn in asking rent this year, as reported by CoStar Group, demonstrates retailers’ ability not just to survive but to thrive in a market with elevated asking prices compared to the rest of the state. This upward trend in rent is accompanied by a low 2.8 percent vacancy rate, according to CoStar data, indicating a competitive landscape where profitable lease opportunities are increasingly scarce for tenants. The retail sector within the restaurant industry continues to thrive, showing significant activity and heightened interest. The influx of high-net-worth individuals and a post-pandemic resurgence in immigration …