PLANO, TEXAS — Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, a Plano-based fast casual concept, will open 10 new restaurants throughout the metroplex, an expansion that is expected to create about 250 new jobs. All 10 of these locations will feature the brand’s new prototype with new dining zones, digital menus, a grab-and-go bottled beverage fridge and to-go shelving. Mooyah currently operates about 75 restaurants across 23 states.
BATAVIA, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the $2.5 million sale of a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers ground lease in Batavia within suburban Chicago. The 3,343-square-foot, single-tenant retail building sits on one acre at 1998 McKee St. Construction of the building was completed this year. Alex Sharrin and Alex Geanakos of JLL represented the seller, Kensington Development Partners. A family trust was the buyer. Raising Cane’s has more than 520 restaurants in 28 states.
FULLERTON, CALIF. — Calbay Development has completed the disposition of a single-tenant restaurant building located at 1101 S. Harbor Blvd. in Fullerton. A Los Angeles-based high-net-worth buyer acquired the property for $6.2 million, or $2,067 per square foot. Constructed in 2020, the 3,000-square-foot property has a fully entitled drive-thru. Starbucks Coffee occupies the building and recently signed a 20-year, absolute, triple-net ground lease with no termination rights for the asset. Adam Friedlander of JLL Retail Capital Markets represented the seller in the deal.
ATHENS, GA. AND NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division has agreed to purchase a “significant stake” in Athens-based Zaxby’s, with plans to grow the quick-service restaurant chain’s footprint into new markets. Terms of the financing were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close by the end of 2020. Zaxby’s, known for its chicken fingers, wings and signature sauces, has more than 900 locations in 17 states, primarily in the Southeast. Zaxby’s is a privately held company that childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley founded in Statesboro, Ga., in 1990. The founders hope the investment from Goldman Sachs will grow the regional chain into a national brand. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Stephens Inc. served as financial advisors to Zaxby’s. King & Spalding LLP and Fortson, Bentley and Griffin P.A. served as legal advisors to Zaxby’s. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal advisor and Goldman Sachs served as financial advisor to Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking.
Developer/Owners/Investors Panel: (Clockwise from top left) Chris Hake, Thompson Thrift; Jenny Redlin, Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.; Joshua Simon, SimonCRE; Jim Pederson, Pederson Group (joining by phone); Mike Kallner, RED Development; Judi Butterworth, Orion Investment Real Estate. The “Phoenix Retail Outlook — How is the Phoenix Market Responding to COVID-19?” webinar, hosted by Shopping Center Business and Western Real Estate Business, covers the impacts of COVID-19 and how retail experts are bringing creativity to challenging situations. Learn what retailers, restaurant owners and developers need to thrive, plus what our panelists anticipate for retail in the near future. See a list of some topics covered below: How are Phoenix area retailers, restaurants and developers adapting to the COVID-19 environment? What do they need to succeed? How will Phoenix retail rents and property values be impacted? What are the predictions for retail vacancy rates in the coming year? What will be the impact on new development in the near term? What do retailers and retail property owners need to consider to position themselves for recovery? What opportunities do Phoenix retail tenants, developers investors see in a post-pandemic market? Developer/Owners/Investors Panelists: Chris Hake, Thompson Thrift Jenny Redlin, Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. Joshua Simon, SimonCRE Jim Pederson, Pederson Group Mike …
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — Despite shelter-in-place mandates and temporary closures due to COVID-19, Westfield US has opened 42 stores and restaurants this year at Westfield Valley Fair, a 2.2 million-square-foot Bay Area shopping and lifestyle destination located at 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Santa Clara. Twenty-two of the new tenants have opened since March, with 15 new retail and restaurant leases signed and foot traffic increasing more than 10 percent week-over-week since the center reopened in for retail operations in June. New tenants and milestones include: The completion of an expanded Luxury Collection that now features more than 45 retailers, including Bvlgari, Golden Goose, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Montblanc, Tiffany & Co. and Versace. Additionally, Christian Louboutin and Panerai have signed leases to join the collection in the near future. The openings of a flagship Apple store, Lucid Studio from Lucid Motors, Peloton, AESOP, Zadig & Voltaire, Sandro, Maje and Anne Fontaine. New tenants for The Digital District including Tempo and Brik + Clik, Capital One Café, Polestar, Reiss and Dr. Martens. A revitalized Restaurant Collection with expanded outdoor dining options and new restaurants, including the first Northern California location of King’s Fish House, Shake Shack, Silicon Valley’s first Salt & …
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council has unanimously approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Padres Development Team to negotiate terms for the previously announced acquisition and redevelopment of Tailgate Park into East Village Quarter. The site is located outside Petco Park, which Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres call home. The Padres Development Team, including the San Diego Padres, Tishman Speyer and Ascendant Capital Partners, was selected during a public request for proposals process. The development team’s vision for East Village Quarter includes residential space, 50,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail, 236,000 square feet of public spaces, 1.4 million square feet of office space targeted to technology and biotechnology companies, and 1,600 parking spaces. According to media reports, the development will cost $1.4 billion. “We are excited to take another step forward to revitalize Tailgate Park and further transform the Ballpark District and downtown San Diego,” says Erik Greupner, president of business operations for the San Diego Padres. “We look forward to finalizing a deal with the City of San Diego that will result in the creation of a vibrant, inclusive, mixed-use district in East Village.”
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to launch a digital restaurant concept dubbed Chipotle Digital Kitchen. Customers will be required to order in advance via the Chipotle app, website or third-party delivery service; there will not be a dining area or line to order food. The Newport Beach-based restaurant chain says the footprint is designed for urban areas but will open its first location near West Point Academy in Highland Falls, New York, on Saturday, Nov. 14. The announcement of the restaurant opening comes on the heels of the company’s third-quarter earnings report, which showed Chipotle’s digital sales tripled year-over-year. Furthermore, online sales accounted for nearly half (48.8 percent) of total sales for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30.
MIAMI — Miami-Dade County’s retail market posted 120,934 square feet of negative net absorption in the third quarter, according to research from Colliers International. The decline is a sizable improvement from the second quarter, a period where the market gave back 230,698 square feet of retail space. Year-to-date absorption remains positive for Miami-Dade County at 883,859 square feet. Despite the negative absorption in the third quarter, vacancy only dipped 20 basis points from the previous quarter. The negative absorption in Miami-Dade County, as well as retail markets around the country, has a direct correlation with the recession-inducing COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the trend of consumer spending habits to more e-commerce shopping. The list of retailers closing big boxes in the market include national brands such as Stein Mart, Neiman Marcus, Chuck E. Cheese’s, 24 Hour Fitness, JC Penney, CMX Cinemas, Pier 1 Imports, Bloomingdales, Lucky’s Market, Sears, Sur La Table and Justice. Tenants opening in the market in the third quarter included Publix, Hobby Lobby, Five Below and AT&T, among others. Amped Fitness and Happy Floors are boutique concepts that signed leases this past quarter. Rents continued to decline in Miami-Dade’s shopping centers in the third quarter. Average rental …
SHAFTER, CALIF. — Wonderful Real Estate Development has started construction of a new corporate office building, conference center, wellness center, amenity center and vocational school at Wonderful Industrial Park (WIP) in Shafter. Spanning 98,000 square feet, the logistics park is slated for completion in first-quarter 2022. The development will include a 61,000-square-foot corporate office component, a 37,200-square-foot vocational training center and an 8,500-square-foot restaurant café space. The corporate office space will be home to more than 200 Central Valley employees, including those working for Wonderful Citrus, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds, Suterra, Pom Wonderful and Wonderful Real Estate Development. Additionally, the office space will provide large meeting rooms that will be available to companies within WIP and the community at-large. The development’s Wonderful Wellness Center will include a gym, exercise classes, healthy awareness programs and access to a mobile clinic. In addition to Wonderful Company’s developments, Walmart Inc. is nearing the completion of a 630,000-square-foot distribution facility at WIP. The highly automated property is optimized for handling, packaging and shipping food. The facility is located on 65 acres that Walmart acquired from WIP in 2018. The facility is slated to be fully operational by spring 2021.