LONG BEACH, CALIF. — DJM, in partnership with PGIM Real Estate, has purchased Long Beach Exchange, an open-air lifestyle property in Long Beach, from Burnham-Ward Properties for an undisclosed price. Built in 2018, the 26-acre Long Beach Exchange features 246,500 square feet of retail space. Current tenants include Whole Foods Market, Handel’s, Orange Theory, Ra Yoga, Silverlake Ramen, Ulta and Nordstrom Rack. Eastdil brokered the transaction.
EAST PEORIA, ILL. — Krab Kingz has opened at EastPort Plaza, which is located within the central Illinois town of East Peoria. The seafood restaurant specializes in Southern-style seafood boils and offers fresh king crab, snow crab and blue crab. The menu also features other seafood options such as shrimp, lobster and salmon. The East Peoria location will be the first Krab Kingz restaurant in central Illinois. Rimmon McNeese is the franchisee. Peoria-based Cullinan Properties Ltd. owns and manages EastPort Plaza, a retail center that is home to tenants such as Erie Insurance, Mobil Gas, The Galley Restaurant, Maloof Realty and Edward Jones.
By Taylor Williams Demand for retail and restaurant space in Northern New Jersey has long been buoyed by spillover tenants that find themselves priced out of premium spaces in New York City. Yet despite the fact that retail rents throughout the city have been depressed for the last 18 months, users have not flocked to Manhattan and Brooklyn at the expense of the fringe markets of Northern New Jersey. In fact, brokers in the latter region see a healthy level of demand from a wide range of users that see opportunity in the current conditions. “The closures of national soft goods retailers that were squeezed by reduced demand and supply chain constraints during the height of COVID-19 left some beautifully built-out spaces,” notes Kevin Pelio, director of leasing at Azarian Group. “This has benefitted local and regional operators who can come into a prominent retail location without the capital-intensive, upfront investment typically required in a normal market.” Pelio adds that the larger trend among brick-and-mortar retailers to reduce initial capital outlays and build-out costs has also led to reductions in landlords’ tenant improvement (TI) allowances. Brian Katz, CEO of Englewood, N.J.-based Katz & Associates, concurs that certain retailers are aggressively …
By Taylor Williams The fervent desire that many Americans have to make up for lost eating, drinking and socializing time has New York City’s food and beverage (F&B) market roaring back to life, prompting tenants to revisit growth plans, landlords to aggressively market their spaces and the brokers who represent the two sides to sharpen their pencils. In mid-August, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that residents wishing to eat or drink inside a restaurant or bar would have to show proof of receipt of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet after two months of seeing this policy enforced, local brokers say the mandate has had a minimally adverse impact on business. Consequently, leasing activity, which began rebounding a year ago, is now accelerating in the F&B space. According to data from CBRE, F&B deals accounted for 30 percent of all new retail leases executed in New York City between March 2020 and August 2021. The company’s research team also identified 65 F&B leases throughout New York City in 2021 alone, representing about 33 percent of the total deal volume. Specifically within Manhattan, there were 24 leases executed for F&B concepts in the third quarter …
NEW LENOX, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $4.9 million sale of a retail strip center in New Lenox, a southwest suburb of Chicago. A Chipotle restaurant with a drive-thru anchors the 9,907-square-foot property. Other tenants include MOD Pizza, Smoothie King, Classy Nails and Vino Gaming Wine Bar. Brian Parmacek of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a Chicago-based developer. The buyer was undisclosed.
CHICAGO — Edie’s All Day Café & Bar has signed a lease for approximately 4,000 square feet of ground-floor space at Kingsbury Center in Chicago. Scheduled to open in spring 2022, the new location is Edie’s second in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Edie’s will offer a café, restaurant, workspace and wine bar. Kingsbury Center is a six-story, 90,689-square-foot office building owned by an affiliate of Next Realty LLC and The Habitat Co. David Goldberg and Allan Perales of Goldstreet Partners represented Edie’s in the lease transaction.
PHILADELPHIA, PITTSBURGH AND HANOVER, MD. — The Cordish Cos., a privately held retail entertainment and hospitality owner and operator based in Baltimore, has reached a sale-leaseback agreement with Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI) for three of Cordish’s East Coast casinos. The properties include Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia and Live! Casino Pittsburgh. Under terms of the agreement, Cordish will immediately lease back all the properties and continue to own, control and manage all the gaming operations of the facilities. The leases will have an initial term of 39 years, with a maximum term of 60 years inclusive of tenant renewal options. The total price was approximately $1.8 billion, including applicable long-term ground leases. Consideration for the three-property real estate transactions will comprise a mix of qualified debt assumption (to be satisfied by GLPI), cash and $323 million of newly issued operating partnership units. The transaction for the three properties includes a binding partnership on future Cordish casino developments. For seven years post-closing, GLPI will co-invest with Cordish on any new gaming development projects and provide 20 percent of Cordish’s equity on those projects. (This agreement excludes existing Cordish or third-party gaming licensed facilities.) …
SAN DIEGO AND LAKE FOREST, CALIF. — Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) and Del Taco Restaurants (NASDAQ: TACO) have entered into a merger agreement valued at approximately $575 million, inclusive of existing debt. Under the terms of the agreement, Jack in the Box will acquire Del Taco for $12.51 per share in cash. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, would yield a company with more than 2,800 restaurants across 25 states. In addition, the new entity plans to grow its store count by 4 percent annually by 2025. “This is a natural combination of two like-minded, challenger brands with outstanding growth opportunities,” says Darin Harris, CEO of Jack in the Box. “Together, Jack in the Box and Del Taco will benefit from a stronger financial model, gaining greater scale to invest in digital and technology capabilities and unit growth for both brands.” “Del Taco has a loyal, passionate guest base and a strong operating model, and we believe that we can leverage our infrastructure, experience refranchising and development strategy to support Del Taco’s growth plans and expand Del Taco’s footprint,” continues Harris. “In recent years, we have uniquely positioned Del Taco …
NEW YORK CITY — Ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United has opened a 6,400-square-foot space at 307 W. 38th St. in Midtown Manhattan where it will offer takeout and delivery of brands such as Wingstop, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Chili’s, among others. The location is the third in New York City for Kitchen United, which also recently software and ghost kitchen developer, Zuul. The acquisition saw Zuul’s existing locations in the Soho and Hudson Yards neighborhoods rebranded as a Kitchen United MIX centers last month.
By Jeff Tinsley, senior advisor, SVN | J. Beard Real Estate – Greater Houston As we reach the end of the calendar year, it’s become clear that 2021 has been a year of transition. Many new trends are emerging from the pandemic year of 2020 with regard to retail real estate. COVID-19-induced trends within shopping, dining and entertainment have given rise to a new generation of retailers to the Houston market. Many quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are looking to reduce store sizes for future locations and focus on streamlining their drive-thru, call in and pick-up order service. Some restaurant concepts are instilling the use of “ghost kitchens” and are aggressively looking to lease second-generation spaces in order to take advantage of the growing takeout and delivery demands. During the pandemic, one of the hardest-hit sectors was in the restaurant industry. Following months of minimized interaction between customers and proprietors due to dining room closures, we are now seeing a greater increase in pick-up and delivery requirements. Many restaurants are now using new technology and methods in terms of how service is offered, how food is prepared and how kitchen and service areas are designed. Furthermore, many food and …
