WRENTHAM, MASS. — Shaq’s Big Chicken, a food-and-beverage concept by NBA legend and TV personality Shaquille O’Neal, will open a new restaurant in the southern Massachusetts city of Wrentham. The square footage was not disclosed. The restaurant will be located within Wrentham Premium Outlet Malls, which is owned by Simon Property Group, and is scheduled to open in the coming months. Other tenants that will also soon debut new stores at the property include apparel retailers Vuori, La Vie en Rose and Rag & Bone.
HUTTO, TEXAS — Jack Allen’s Kitchen, a food-and-beverage concept that specializes in Texas-based cuisine, has opened a 7,000-square-foot restaurant in Hutto, a northern suburb of Austin. The restaurant was built from the ground up within the 35-acre Hutto Co-Op District and will be able to house about 275 patrons between its indoor and patio dining spaces. Designtrait Architects designed the restaurant.
HONOLULU — Ala Moana Center, a 2.4-million-square-foot shopping center located in Honolulu, has announced the expansion of 10 new tenants this year. A mix of restaurant and retail businesses — Amaterasu; Coconut Ave; Baskin Robbins; Eve Ala Moana; fanfancy+; Lovisa; NOHO HOME; Skinceuticals Skin Lab; and ZEGNA — have already opened at the property. Dave & Buster’s, the final tenant to join the roster, is scheduled to open in mid-April. Brookfield Properties of Chicago owns and operates the center. Ala Moana Center is anchored by Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy’s and Target and houses more than 350 stores and restaurants, including a selection of local, international and luxury brands.
By Nellie Day Metro Phoenix’s population grew to include more than 5 million people in 2023, per the Census, making it the second fastest-growing large U.S. city that year. This increase in residents and employment opportunities naturally brought new, emerging and different retailers to the area, who quickly occupied both existing centers and new developments. Phoenix-headquartered Vestar’s activity paints a picture of how this retail market has grown with its population. In the last quarter of 2024 alone, Vestar broke ground on Verrado Marketplace, a 500,000-square-foot shopping center in Buckeye; ushered in a new wave of tenant openings at Las Tiendas Village in Chandler and Queen Creek Marketplace in Queen Creek; and brought back a seasonal pop-up inside a 50-foot spherical dome at the District at Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix. Balancing Tenant Mix, Community Relevance The key to capitalizing on Metro Phoenix’s growth, the firm says, is focusing on tenant diversification and market positioning. Vestar actively seeks out curated tenant mixes that not only attract foot traffic but align with the demographic and economic profiles of each community. Las Tiendas Village, for example, recently welcomed Marshalls, beauty supply store Happy Beauty, luxury lash spa Revelashons and child-focused hair salon …
EVANSTON, ILL. — Maverick Commercial Mortgage Inc. has arranged a $3.3 million SBA loan for a restaurant property occupied by Soul & Smoke in Evanston. A regional SBA lender provided the loan, which is fully amortized over 25 years and features a variable interest rate. Loan proceeds will be utilized to complete construction, refinance in-place debt and provide working capital for the business. The transaction marks Maverick’s first time closing with the borrower and lender. Barbecue restaurant Soul & Smoke has expanded to multiple locations, including a spot at Soldier Field, as well as two food trucks and a retail line.
Baltimore’s retail market is alive and well and has experienced something of a boom in retail activity, driven in large part by the thriving retail hubs in the city and in the surrounding suburbs. Demand for space continues to be robust and prospective tenants and investors alike are excited to be part of the Baltimore market. But the reasons why are more nuanced than simply piggybacking off the overall growth that brick-and-mortar retail is seeing across the country. Baltimore is a bargain One of the causes is the terrific value that Charm City offers when comparing prices to the major metropolises of Washington, D.C., to the south and Philadelphia to the north. The Baltimore MSA offers attractive demographics and strong retail fundamentals, making it a prime target for local, regional and national investors. A great example is the sale by KLNB’s Retail Capital Markets team of Arbutus Shopping Center in fall 2024, a 88,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored center that attracted significant demand due to its Baltimore County location, sub-$20 million price point and the broader market’s interest in grocery-anchored retail assets. Due to these robust conditions and factors, among other reasons, owners are hesitant to sell — despite the substantial interest …
LONGWOOD, FLA.— Winter Park, Fla.-based CrossMarc Services LLC has signed five new tenants to Springs Plaza, a 64,753-square-foot shopping center located roughly 15 miles north of Orlando in Longwood. Among the new tenants are Foxtail Coffee (1,179 square feet), Children’s Art Classes (2,350 square feet), Level Up Pilates (2,365 square feet), 5th Nail Lounge (2,649 square feet) and Turning Point Dance Studio (2,351 square feet). Flavia Kanyago internally represented CrossMarc, as well as Baltimore-based joint venture partner MCB Real Estate, in the lease negotiations. Other tenants at the center — which is now 95 percent leased — include Tijuana Flats, First Watch, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Hurricane Grill & Wings and Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming and a 58,000-square-foot Publix that shadow-anchors the property.
CLERMONT, FLA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $11.3 million sale of Legends Pointe, a two-building mixed-use retail and medical office property located in Clermont, approximately 22 miles west of Orlando. Originally built in 2006, the recently renovated property is situated on 4.3 acres and totals 47,418 square feet. Legends Pointe comprises 18 office suites and 10 retail units. Yassin Benkabbou and Salim Valiani of Marcus & Millichap’s Orlando office represented the seller, a local limited liability company, in the transaction.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Revitalization Unlimited has purchased The DeGraff Building, a mixed-use property at 118 N. Tejon St. in Colorado Springs. Terms of the transaction were not released. The four-story, 34,160-square-foot building features 18 rental units, 16 of which are currently leased. For the past decade, Oskar Blues Grill & Brew has occupied the first floor and basement, while the upper floors are used as office space. Built in 1897, The DeGraff Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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JLL: U.S. Retail Sector Remains Optimistic as Market Conditions Shift
CHICAGO — Retail closures are at a cyclical high, totaling a whopping 9,900 business shutdowns in 2024, according to JLL’s fourth-quarter 2024 retail report entitled “United States Retail Market Dynamics.” For the first time in several years, store closures outpaced store openings in a calendar year. Fabric and crafts retailer JOANN, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection twice within a year, is shuttering all 800 stores, while major department store chain Macy’s will close 150 stores over the next three years, with 66 closures anticipated in 2025 alone. The highest number of store closures resulted from discount and dollar stores like Family Dollar, CVS Health and Big Lots, as well as specialty retailers like Party City. Retail closures are represented across different size brackets, with more than 55 percent of announced closures identifying with footprints ranging from 5,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet. Expanding retailers such as Dollar General, O’Reilly Automotive and Five Below align with these vacant boxes, while larger, major closures like Bed Bath & Beyond and Toys “R” Us occupy more “desirable” locations. On the flip side, between 2024 and 2025, there were roughly 7,700 new retail store openings announced. Nearly 3,000 of these openings …