WALLINGFORD, CONN. — CBRE has negotiated the $21.4 million sale of a 115,000-square-foot shopping center in Wallingford, located roughly midway between Hartford and New Haven. Wallingford Fair Shopping Center is home to a ShopRite supermarket, Petco store and a self-storage facility. Nat Heald, Jordana Roet, Connor Scott and Kyle Juszczyszyn of CBRE represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. Both parties requested anonymity.
CLIFTON, N.J. — JLL has arranged an $11.5 million acquisition loan for a retail project in the Northern New Jersey community of Clifton. The 4.3-acre site at 1030–1050 U.S. Route 46 formerly housed a vacant commercial building that is being redeveloped into a 48,535-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail center that is 80 percent preleased. Ryan Carroll, Nazario Paragano and Christian Badalamenti of JLL arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan through Fidelity Investments on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
Birmingham’s retail market continues to show steady momentum as it moves into a new phase, defined by limited supply, strong tenant demand in key corridors and a growing focus on open-air, lifestyle environments. While higher interest rates and construction costs slowed new development activity over the past couple of years, Birmingham’s most established retail corridors have remained active. Well-located centers continue to lease space quickly, and redevelopment opportunities are beginning to reshape several of the MSA’s outdated retail properties. One of the defining characteristics of Birmingham’s retail landscape today is the limited availability of high-quality space in prime locations. Much of the vacancy that emerged during the pandemic has been absorbed, particularly in grocery-anchored centers and lifestyle-oriented districts. As a result, retailers looking for space in established corridors often face a fairly competitive leasing environment. Demand remains strong among quick-service restaurants (QSRs), boutique fitness operators, medical and service retailers and fast-casual and high-end dining concepts. Birmingham’s suburban growth corridors and mixed-use environments offer many of these advantages, allowing landlords in the most desirable centers to maintain strong occupancy while gradually pushing rents higher. Lifestyle centers Open-air lifestyle environments continue to set the standard for Birmingham’s retail landscape. The best example …
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — EōS Fitness will open a 30,000-square-foot gym in Arlington. The locally based operator will backfill a space previously occupied by Conn’s HomePlus at Arlington Highlands, a shopping center that is also home to tenants such as Ulta Beauty, lululemon and Studio Movie Grill. Segovia Partners represented EōS Fitness in the lease negotiations. Shop Cos. represented the landlord, a partnership between AEW Capital Management and Fairbourne Properties.
FRESNO, CALIF. — CBRE’s Retail Investment Properties – West has directed the sale of Shops at The Marketplace at El Paseo in Fresno. A private investor acquired the asset from an undisclosed seller for $7.1 million. James Tyrrell, Megan Lanni and Jimmy Slusher of CBRE handled the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Avison Young has negotiated the $23.5 million sale of a 22,285-square-foot retail building in Lower Manhattan. The building at 446 W. 14th St. is located in the Meatpacking District and was fully leased at the time of sale to Puttery, a minigolf-themed entertainment concept. The seller was an entity doing business as Meatpacking Retail LLC, and the buyer was a joint venture between Klosed Properties and Namdar Realty Group. James Nelson, Brent Glodowski, Mitchell Levine and Noah Kossoff of Avison Young brokered the deal.
MILLER PLACE, N.Y. — Trader Joe’s has opened a 13,5000-square-foot shopping center in Miller Place, located on Long Island. The store is housed within a newly constructed building at 300 State Route 25A. Robert Delavale of The Breslin Organization represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations. A grand opening ceremony took place in mid-February.
FRAMINGHAM, MASS. — Party City and Staples have partnered to bring the specialty party retailer inside more than 700 Staples locations nationwide and on the Staples website, with plans to expand to additional stores by the end of 2026. According to the companies, the partnership creates a single destination for celebrations by offering a selection of balloons, décor and party supplies, along with Staples same-day print and marketing services. “Staples has always been focused on making things easy for our customers, and our partnership with Party City takes that promise into new territory,” says Marshall Warkentin, president of Staples U.S. Retail. The Party City stores within a store offer a range of latex and foil helium balloons in a variety of colors, sizes and designs. In the coming weeks, shoppers will also be able to schedule balloon pickups in advance through the Staples website and app. In addition, customers can shop for party décor, tableware, gift bags, costume accessories and favors, while also creating personalized invitations, banners, yard signs and posters through Staples print services. Party City Holdco Inc. (PCHI) first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 and announced in December 2024 that it would be liquidating and …
NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS — Houston-based development and brokerage firm NewQuest is underway on construction of a 100,000-square-foot retail expansion project in New Braunfels, a northeastern suburb of San Antonio. The expansion of New Braunfels Town Center at Creekside, which is part of the 400-acre Creekside Town Center master-planned development, involves construction of new single-tenant buildings for EöS Fitness, Chick-fil-A, Portillo’s and Chase Bank. The project will also feature a roughly 10,000-square-foot multi-tenant building that is fully preleased to Chipotle Mexican Grill, CAVA, Potbelly, Blo Dry Bar and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt. A tentative completion date was not announced.
MERRITT ISLAND, FLA. — A tenancy-in-common (TIC) entity including MHCommercial Real Estate Fund II, a private equity fund launched by South Florida-based commercial real estate services firm NAI Merin Hunter Codman, has acquired the Shoppes at Victoria Square on Florida’s Space Coast for $16 million. Situated approximately 50 miles east of Orlando in Merritt Island near the Kennedy Space Center, the Shoppes at Victoria Square totals 109,000 square feet and is anchored by Burlington, Five Below and Ulta Beauty. The property was 98 percent leased at the time of sale. This acquisition marks the second Merritt Island investment for MHC Fund II, following the purchase of Merritt Crossing, a 90,000-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center, in July 2025. John Crotty, Michael Fay, David Duckworth, Brian de la Fe and Philip Shapiro of Avison Young represented the seller, an entity doing business as Victoria Square Partners, in the transaction. Stuart Kapp and Jake Seiler of Kapp Morrison Aker LLP law firm represented the TIC buyers, an entity doing business as Ocala North Partnership, which includes Ted Lightman and James O’Connor of Charles Wayne Properties; Jim Scalo and Brian Walker of NAI Burns Scalo; and MHCommercial Fund II. BankUnited provided financing. NAI Merin Hunter Codman …