SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), a longtime apparel tenant in enclosed regional malls nationwide, has announced plans to close 350 stores under its Banana Republic and Gap banners in an effort to transition focus to e-commerce and off-mall retail locations. Store closures are scheduled for completion by fiscal year 2023, which ends Feb. 1, 2024, with 75 percent scheduled to close in 2021. By that time, the company expects 80 percent of its revenue to come from e-commerce and off-mall locations, including street-front retail stores and shops in strip and outlet centers. Gap is the latest mall staple to shutter locations amid struggles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, following Ascena Retail Group — the parent company of Ann Taylor, Justice, Loft, Lane Bryant, Catherines and Lou & Grey — Bed Bath & Beyond, J.C. Penney and GNC. Gap’s comparable sales were up 13 percent at the end of the second quarter, due in large part to an expanded focus on e-commerce and to the success of the company’s activewear brand, Athleta, which saw a 6 percent increase in sales during the quarter. The company also began producing and selling face masks at the start of the pandemic, sales …
CHICAGO — JLL has arranged more than $100 million in financing for a 278-unit multifamily community in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. The developer broke ground on the community in late September and expects to deliver it in spring 2022. JLL worked on behalf of developer Marquette Cos. to secure a $65 million construction loan through Bank OZK. Further details of the financing were not disclosed. Power Construction is the general contractor and Chicago-based Brininstool + Lynch is the architect. The 25-story property, located at 1400 Randolph St., will feature coworking spaces, a fitness center, club room and a pool on the 18th floor. Amenities in the surrounding neighborhood include the 13-acre Union Park; the L Train Ashland Station; and “Restaurant Row,” which features restaurants such as Au Cheval, Bad Hunter, Bandit, Girl & the Goat, Haymarket Tavern, La Josie, Lena Brava and Rooh. Matthew Schoenfeldt of JLL represented the Naperville-based developer in securing the construction financing. “Marquette, their institutional partner and Bank OZK have been steadfast in their commitment to 1400 Randolph, which is a testament to the fundamentally compelling concept,” says Schoenfeldt. According to research from CBRE, there were 2,500 multifamily units delivered in the Chicago area in the …
DETROIT — The Detroit City Council has approved the sale of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds, providing the green light for a $400 million redevelopment of the site. Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties have agreed to pay $9 million for the land, with plans to build a 3.8 million-square-foot distribution center for Amazon at the property. The e-commerce giant will occupy half of the 142-acre site, located at the corner of Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road. Its facility is projected to bring more than 1,200 new full-time jobs to the area. The remaining acreage will be dedicated to auto part suppliers or other employers, according to the developers. The Michigan State Fair took place annually in Detroit from 1849 to 2009 when the publicly funded event was removed from the budget. In 2011, the fair went private and moved to nearby Novi. The redevelopment plans call for the demolition of several buildings at the old fairgrounds, including the 5,600-seat arena built in 1922, according to local news outlets. The project also includes the development of a new indoor transit center to replace the current one on Woodward Avenue near the fairgrounds. As part of the agreement, …
BOSTON — A division of Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, is building a team to redevelop the area outside of Fenway Park. The company’s real estate arm, Fenway Sports Group Real Estate (FSGRE), is partnering with Massachusetts-based WS Development and the D’Angelo family to redevelop several sites surrounding the Red Sox home ballpark. Details were not disclosed, but The Boston Globe reports the project would bring office space, apartment buildings, shops, laboratories for life science firms, public spaces and maybe a hotel to the Fenway neighborhood. The office space could house Fenway Sports Group’s staffers who work inside Fenway Park’s offices, according to the newspaper. The move mirrors what other professional sports teams, including the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals, have done in recent years to create density surrounding their ballparks with mixed-use villages. The Boston Globe also reports that Fenway Sports Group has invested $350 million on physical improvements at Fenway Park over the past 18 years and in that time also purchased adjoining sites surrounding the ballpark for future development. “Our partnership’s work in the area surrounding the ballpark will have a profound effect on the experience of Red Sox fans …
SAN FRANCISCO — Chicago-based REIT Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR), through its Life Sciences and Healthcare Real Estate Fund, has acquired an 800,000-square-foot life sciences campus in San Francisco for roughly $1 billion. The San Francisco Business Journal reports that the property is the Genesis South office and life sciences hub, which consists of two office and lab buildings totaling roughly 720,000 square feet, as well as a 72,000-square-foot building. The Class A campus is located on the city’s south side and consists of three newly built or renovated buildings. The campus was 96 percent leased at the time of sale with a weighted average lease term of more than six years. The property is purpose-built for advanced research functions and is predominantly features lab space supporting biotechnology and other life sciences research. Nearly half of the tenant roster consists of publicly traded companies with market capitalizations of $10 billion or higher that are backed by venture capital or private equity firms. The price represents a capitalization rate of approximately 5 percent. The seller was a partnership between Boston-based Bain Capital and San Diego-based Phase 3, according to IPE Real Assets, which provides global intelligence for institutional real estate investment. In …
BOSTON — Millennium Partners Boston, a local arm of developer Millennium Partners, has secured $775 million in construction financing from Cale Street Investments for Winthrop Center, a $1.3 billion mixed-use development located in downtown Boston. Upon completion, the project is expected to feature 812,000 square feet of Class A office space; 572,000 square feet of residential space including 321 luxury residential units; and a 24,000-square-foot common area featuring a fitness center, game room, coffee bar, cafe and lounge space. “Securing the construction loan from Cale Street Investments — an unprecedented investment given the global pandemic — assures that Winthrop Center will remain on schedule for completion in 2022,” says Christopher Jeffries, founder of Millennium Partners. “From its inception, human-centric design, sustainability and flexible workspaces have formed the foundation of Winthrop Center. With innovation a core part of Boston’s DNA, the city is the perfect home for this building.” The project was designed by Handel Architects to provide ample access to natural light and elevated indoor air quality in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The development will seek LEED Gold certification for its residential units and LEED Platinum certification for its office space upon completion, which is slated for 2022. Founded …
RALEIGH, N.C. — Hoffman & Associates has unveiled its plans for a $300 million redevelopment of the Seaboard Station neighborhood on the northern edge of downtown Raleigh. The Washington, D.C.-based developer plans to build the mixed-use project in three phases, beginning with the construction of 300 residential units and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Upon full build-out, the new Seaboard Station plans call for three apartment buildings totaling 600 units, 130,000 square feet of retail space, a hotel and underground parking. The central corridor of the project will also feature a street without curbs, making the area accessible to pedestrians, vehicles and cyclists, while also available for expanded outdoor dining, music, events and gatherings. Hoffman & Associates plans to break ground on Phase I by the end of the year, with completion expected by the third quarter of 2022. A timeline for further phases was not disclosed. Seaboard Station was originally built in 1942 and the neighborhood has since undergone multiple transformations. The property initially served as a train depot until 1986. In the early 1990s, the Logans, a locally based entrepreneurial family, restored the property, spurring development around the area, including the development of Shops at Seaboard Station …
CHICAGO — The Howard Hughes Corp. and Riverside Investment & Development have opened 110 North Wacker Drive, a 55-story office tower situated along the Chicago River. The 1.5 million-square-foot project is the tallest office building completed in the city in the last three decades, according to the developers. Bank of America is the anchor tenant. Other opening-day tenants include real estate investment advisor Heitman, global investment bank Lincoln International and law firms Jones Day and Morgan Lewis. Construction began in summer of 2018. Although no development cost was disclosed, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase provided a $495 million construction loan at that time. The Class A tower features a 45-foot-wide riverwalk on its ground level. The covered area, which connects two downtown pedestrian paths and a small park, offers 22,000 square feet of public space. The project features technology designed to maximize overall health and wellness. This includes best-in-class HVAC systems, advanced dispatch elevators and a customized app that provides touchless building access, transportation information, event listings and the ability to book fitness and spa activity. Several enhancements have been added to address COVID-19 concerns, including advanced secondary air filtration systems, more air changes per hour than most …
ATLANTA AND SCHIPHOL, NETHERLANDS — Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD) has agreed to acquire Agro Merchants Group, a privately held cold storage warehouse owner based in The Netherlands, for $1.74 billion. Atlanta-based Americold entered into the agreement with Agro Merchants’ owner, an investor group led by funds managed by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management LP. The move will give Americold its first cold storage properties in Europe. Agro Merchants, which has its North American headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga., owns and operates 46 cold storage properties in 10 countries. The company is the fourth largest cold storage owner in the United States and third largest in Europe. Agro Merchants serves more than 2,900 customers across multiple industries. “We are confident that by joining Americold, we will accelerate our growth and by combining our complementary networks, we will be able to provide a more comprehensive range of solutions to customers around the world,” says Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of Agro Merchants. Americold is the only publicly traded REIT specializing in cold storage, which is seeing an influx of investment and leasing demand since the onset of the pandemic. According to a June report from Vyzn Research, the global cold storage sector is estimated …
BILOXI, MISS. — A joint venture between California-based Universal Music Group (UMG) and hospitality investment firm Dakia U-Ventures has unveiled plans for a $1.2 billion hotel and music-themed entertainment destination in the coastal Mississippi city of Biloxi. The new development will be the first of the joint venture’s UMUSIC Hotels, with additional locations coming to Atlanta and Orlando. Each hotel and entertainment district is designed to educate guests on the city’s musical heritage and will feature new venues for live performances. Pyramid Hotel Group, a Boston-based hospitality management firm, has also partnered with UMG and Dakia to operate the hotels. The new hotel and entertainment venue in Biloxi will be developed at the site of the former Broadwater resort. A construction timeline was not released. The number of hotel rooms was not disclosed, and the joint venture did not specify whether or not the development will include a casino, as many hospitality properties in Biloxi do. Should the project feature a casino, the hotel would then be legally required to have at least 300 rooms, according to regional news outlet nola.com. Local media outlets have also reported that the price tag of $1.2 billion would make the project the most …