WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — R.J. Brunelli & Co. has brokered the sale of a one-acre retail development site in Woodbridge, a southwestern suburb of New York City. Bud’s Hut restaurant occupied the property, which is located at 906 Route 1, for the last 50 years. The buyer, local builder Suburban Development LLC, plans to redevelop the property by constructing a 2,200-square-foot restaurant building with a drive-thru and a separate 3,000-square-foot retail building. John Lenaz of R.J. Brunelli represented Suburban Development in the transaction. Lenaz also represented the seller. The sales price as undisclosed.
EL CENTRO, CALIF. — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has brokered the sale of a newly built, single-tenant retail property located at 2033 N. Imperial Ave. in El Centro. Encinitas, Calif.-based Becker Development sold the building to a Los Angeles-based private investor for $2.8 million, or $1,089 per square foot. Starbucks Coffee occupies the 2,625-square-foot, drive-thru property, which was built in 2019. The asset is located at the signalized entrance to a Target- and Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse-anchored shopping center. Bill Asher, Jeff Lefko and Ed Hanley of Hanley Investment Group represented the seller, while John Kerrigan, a Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based real estate broker, represented the buyer.
INDIANAPOLIS — Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) has released plans for reopening several of its malls in the first half of May. The openings are based on current state and/or local stay-at-home orders put in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously scheduled to open today, some properties in Georgia and Indiana have been delayed to a May 4 opening. View the reopening schedule here. Indianapolis-based Simon says its protocols have been reviewed and approved by experts in epidemiology and environmental health and safety. The protocols are in effort to help prevent further spread of COVID-19. Simon employees, contractors and vendors will be required to screen themselves at home prior coming to work. Anyone with a temperature exceeding 100.4 degrees or who exhibits flu-like symptoms will be required to stay home. Employees will be trained in COVID-19 safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They will wear protective face masks while on property and be instructed to maintain six feet of distance from coworkers or shoppers. Simon will ensure that property occupancies do not exceed a targeted level of one person per 50 square feet. Food court seating, as well as common area seating, will …
MATTHEWS, N.C. — SRS investment Properties Group has arranged the $23.9 million sale of Matthews Corner Shopping Center, a 191,664-square-foot property in Matthews. The asset was fully leased at the time of sale to eight tenants, including Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Academy Sports + Outdoors and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. Matthews Corner is situated on 19 acres at 2332 Matthews Township Parkway, 12 miles southeast of downtown Charlotte. Kyle Stonis and Pierce Mayson of SRS represented the seller, Viking Partners, in the transaction. The buyer, Big V Property Group, was self-represented in the transaction.
HOUSTON — Although vacancy ticked up slightly and asking rents fell marginally relative to the fourth quarter of 2019, Houston’s retail market emerged from the first quarter of 2020 with a high occupancy rate (94.6 percent), positive net absorption (400,000 square feet) and positive year-over-year rent growth (6.5 percent triple-net), according to a new report from Colliers International. The market also had 1.7 million square feet of new retail space under construction at the end of the first quarter, which the report cites as one of the lower quarterly figures for this cycle. However, negative impacts due to the COVID-19 outbreak will inevitably hit the market during the second and third quarters, the report projected. The Colliers research team found that Houston restaurants that have traditionally favored dine-in service have reported revenue declines as high as 90 percent in some cases. With many retailers not expected to reopen after the pandemic subsides, the report found that Houston’s vacancy rate could spike to 12 or higher by year’s end, putting downward pressure on rents.
PHOENIX — Sprouts Farmers Market has expanded its grocery pickup and delivery platform to 30 of its store in Texas as the Phoenix-based grocer faces heightened demand amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Customers may choose between same-day pickup and ordering several days in advance. Sprouts has partnered with Instacart to roll out its delivery service and plans to have it available at its 340 nationwide stores by early May. Sprouts currently operates about 45 stores in Texas, with two more slated to open in the coming months in Houston and Tyler.
NEW YORK CITY — Macy’s Inc. plans to reopen 68 of its approximately 775 stores Monday, after state and federal mandates forced the retailer to temporarily close its stores during the COVID-19 outbreak. The New York City-based retailer plans to open an additional 50 stores on May 11. The department store chain closed all of its stores and furloughed most of its storefront workforce on March 17. The closures also included the company’s subsidiary chains, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, but all three chains have maintained their online services. The newly opened Macy’s stores will offer touch-free consultations and demonstrations of beauty products and will only offer a few fitting rooms at a time, which will be frequently sanitized.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $10.4 million sale of a 5,029-square-foot office and retail asset in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Located at 52 Greene St., the property features a ground-level retail space and two office units. Matt Fotis and Colton Traynham of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a local private owner. The duo also procured the buyer, an international investor.
PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Family Dollar has expanded its retail lease to 10,000 square feet in Plainfield, a southwestern suburb of New York City. The retailer previously leased 6,000 square feet in a building located at 227 E. Front St. and will expand by an additional 4,000 square feet into the adjacent former furniture store. Family Dollar also plans to remodel its original space. Danielle Brunelli and Pete Nicholson of R.J. Brunelli & Co. represented Family Dollar in the lease negotiations. The landlord was undisclosed.
LOS ANGELES — CIM Group has agreed to purchase Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, an 869,000-square-foot mall in the Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills submarket of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reports the sales price at over $100 million. The seller is Chicago-based Capri Urban Investors, which took control of the property in 2019 from Capri Capital Advisors, the Times also reports. The mall is situated on 40 acres at 3650 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., eight miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Walmart and Sears stores shuttered prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving over one-third of the property vacant. Cinemark Theater is also a tenant. The Macy’s and IHOP locations at the mall were not part of the sale. A timeline for the sale closing was not disclosed. The asset is adjacent to the Crenshaw-LAX metro light-rail station, an eight-mile line that will connect the neighborhood to Los Angeles International Airport. The station is slated to open by the end of the year. CIM Group reportedly plans to add office space to the property, closing the door on rumors that residential units might go up at the mall. “We have the opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to the future of …