BOHEMIA, N.Y. — Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace has opened a 39,000-square-foot store in the Long Island community of Bohemia. The caterer and provider of Italian food and shopping experiences has backfilled a former Babies ‘R’ Us space at Sayville Plaza. Robert Delavale of Breslin Realty represented the landlord in the lease negotiations on an internal basis.
WESLEY CHAPEL, FLA. — SJC Ventures has broken ground on Wesley Chapel Station, a 75,968-square-foot shopping center in metro Tampa. A 35,518-square-foot Whole Foods Market will anchor the center, which will be located at the corner of Bruce B Downs and Aronwood boulevards. Other committed tenants include PopUp Bagels, CAVA, Naked Farmer, Petfolk, The Tox and a nail salon. The center has approximately 15,000 square feet of available vacancy, according to SJC Ventures. Adjacent to the shopping center, the Atlanta-based firm is underway on an 85,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness club. The developer expects to open the first stores at Wesley Chapel Station in second-quarter 2027.
RICHFIELD, MINN. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has negotiated the sale of Kensington Park, a 28,135-square-foot neighborhood retail center in Richfield, an inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis. Tenants include Chipotle, Noodles & Co., Potbelly and Sarpino’s Pizza. Nearly 70 percent of the occupied gross leasable area has operated at the center for more than 10 years and some tenants since the inception of the center. Amy Senn, Bryce Thompson, Joe Girardi and Eric Geskermann of Mid-America represented the seller, Solomon Real Estate. Black Gate Partners purchased the asset for $6.8 million.
VOLO, ILL. — The Learning Hills Daycare has purchased a 3.1-acre site at 27065 Route 120 in Volo, a far north suburb of Chicago. Rick Scardino of Lee & Associates represented the buyer, which is a privately owned and operated childcare and learning center. Learning Hills plans to build a new daycare that is slated to open in fall 2026. The company currently operates locations in Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills and South Elgin. Joe Heffernan of KW Commercial represented the seller, The Ellis Farm Partnership.
SARASOTA, FLA. — Torburn Partners has announced plans for Sarasota Square, the redevelopment of the former Sarasota Square Mall. The Chicago-based developer signed leases with Whole Foods Market and HomeSense to anchor the first phase of the 96-acre mixed-use project. The retail portion is under construction, and the multifamily component will break ground in first-quarter 2026. Full plans for Sarasota Square include 1,200 luxury residential units; 530,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and commercial space; and open-air gathering space for social events and community programming. Whole Foods will occupy a 35,828-square-foot grocery store, and HomeSense will occupy a 24,214-square-foot store. Other committed tenants include Chipotle Mexican Grill, CAVA Mediterranean, Joe & The Juice and Charles Schwab, which will open a 5,163-square-foot bank branch. Rod Castan and Alyona Tsutskova of Metro Commercial Real Estate are leading the retail leasing assignment at Sarasota Square on behalf of Torburn Partners.
CHANDLER, ARIZ. — Phoenix Commercial Advisors has arranged the sale of Chandler Sunset Plaza, an entertainment- and fitness-anchored shopping center on 13 acres at the northeast corner of Rural and Ray roads in Chandler. The asset traded for $25.9 million, or $242 per square foot. Totaling 107,320 square feet, the property was 95 percent leased to a mix of national and local tenants, including Pickleball Kingdom, Jack in the Box, First Watch and Own Your Dream Sports Academy. John Schweikert and Chad Tiedeman of Phoenix Commercial Advisors represented the undisclosed seller in the deal.
MONONA, WIS. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has negotiated the sale of Pier 37, a shopping center in Monona, a suburb of Madison. The 117,078-square-foot, grocery-anchored property features a freestanding Metro Market, one of the most popular grocery chains in Wisconsin by market share and number of locations. The center is also home to Staples, Woodcraft, Buffalo Wild Wings, Starbucks, Jimmy John’s and Verizon. Rick Drogosz and Patrick Corrigan of Mid-America represented the seller, United Properties. Galway Cos. Inc. was the buyer.
SPRING, TEXAS — Dallas-based brokerage firm STRIVE has arranged the sale of a 5,336-square-foot restaurant building in Spring, located north of Houston, that is leased to Denny’s. Jackson Brewer of STRIVE represented the seller, a Denny’s franchise operator, in the transaction. The buyer was a local private investor. Both parties requested anonymity.
MIDDLETOWN, DEL. — Regional grocer Weis Markets has opened a 64,000-square-foot store and serve as the anchor tenant at Bayberry Town Center, a 280,000-square-foot development in Middletown. The site is located within the 1,500-acre Village of Bayberry master-planned community. The store was announced in May 2023. Blenheim Group is the master developer of Village of Bayberry.
— By Bryan Ledbetter of Western Retail Advisors — Phoenix’s retail market continues to surge. Vacancies are dipping below 5 percent, gross absorption is exceeding 1.5 million square feet in the third quarter and asking triple-net rates continue to increase, reaching into the mid-$50 to $60 per square foot range for newly constructed space. West Valley Leads the Charge in New Development After decades of limited retail construction, metro Phoenix — and the West Valley, in particular — are flush with new space. Projects like SimonCRE’s Prasada in Surprise and Vestar’s Verrado in Buckeye are among the major new developments providing the high-end availability that tenants and residents have been asking for. Although elevated debt and construction costs have tempered new development, more than 1.2 million square feet is still under construction. The lion’s share of that product is already pre-leased. This keeps developers and investors bullish on Phoenix, and on the lookout for the Valley’s next development frontier. Though the West Valley reigns as Phoenix’s latest retail boom market, outliers in the East Valley are teeing up for their turn in the spotlight. Apache Junction is a great example… Far Southeast Valley Emerges as a Growth EngineA neighbor of …