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Fred's-Pharmacy
Leasing ActivityRetailTop Stories

Discount Retail Chain Fred’s to Close 159 U.S. Stores by June

by Taylor Williams

MEMPHIS, TENN. — Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED), a discount chain and pharmacy, will close 159 underperforming U.S. stores, approximately 30 percent of the company’s total footprint. Memphis-based Fred’s will have about 400 general merchandise stores left open following this round of closures. Fred’s, which competes with smaller-format discount retailers like Dollar General as well as big-box stores like Walmart, also owns and operates two additional chains: Getwell Drug & Dollar and Yazoo Trading Co. The majority of those stores house full-service pharmacy departments, but the company is also looking to sell its pure-play pharmacy assets. In September of last year, Fred’s struck a deal to sell prescription files of its pharmacy patients and inventory information at 179 stores across the Southeast to Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA). The shuttered stores are located in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to CNN. Liquidation sales are underway at these stores, which are expected to fully close by the end of May. Fred’s CEO Joseph Anto noted that in addition to losing profitability, most of the shuttered stores are nearing the ends of their lease terms. “After a careful review, we have decided to rationalize our footprint by closing underperforming stores, …

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DevelopmentMarylandSoutheastTop Stories

Greenberg Gibbons, Seritage Growth Partner for $150M Redevelopment Project at Metro Baltimore Mall

by David Cohen

COCKEYSVILLE, MD. — Greenberg Gibbons has formed a joint venture with Seritage Growth Properties to redevelop a 13.8-acre parcel at Hunt Valley Towne Center in Cockeysville. Greenberg Gibbons owns the property, a mixed-use shopping center situated at 118 Shawan Road, 18 miles north of downtown Baltimore. Initial plans for Phase I of the $150 million redevelopment include renovations to the former two-story Sears building and Sears Auto Center. Michael’s and HomeGoods are open on the first floor, while more retail and entertainment concepts are being targeted for the second floor. “[This venture is] an example of our strategy to partner with successful local developers to unlock value at our properties through intensive redevelopment and site densification,” says James Bry, executive vice president of development and construction at Seritage Growth Properties. Wegmans, Regal Cinemas and Marshalls anchor the center. Other tenants include Jos. A. Bank, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Francesca’s Collection, DSW and Ann Taylor Loft. — David Cohen

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DevelopmentIndianaIndustrialMidwestTop Stories

Brightmark Energy Receives $260M Financing for Plastics-to-Fuel Plant in Indiana

by Alex Tostado

ASHLEY, IND. — Brightmark Energy has received $260 million in financing to build the nation’s first commercial-scale plastics-to-fuel plant in Ashley, a small town of fewer than 1,000 residents in the northeast corner of Indiana. The financing includes $185 million in Indiana green bonds, which were underwritten by Goldman Sachs & Co. Brightmark plans to invest $47 million in the plant, according to KPC News, a local news outlet. Brightmark is the controlling owner of RES Polyflow, an Ohio-based energy technology company that innovated the process for converting plastics directly into transportation fuel and other products. Brightmark acquired a majority interest in the company in November. Brightmark Energy Ashley Indiana will convert up to 100,000 tons of plastics into 18 million gallons per year of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and naphtha blend fuels and nearly 6 million gallons a year of commercial-grade wax in a process that is expected to be 93 percent efficient. The outputs could also be used to produce the feedstocks necessary for manufacturing plastic again, “thus creating the world’s first truly circular economy technology for plastics,” according to Brightmark. “We are excited about the market’s confidence in the validity of this technology to economically convert single-use plastics for …

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Leasing ActivityOfficeTop StoriesWashingtonWestern

Dropbox Signs 120,886 SF Lease at Spec Office Tower Under Construction in Seattle

by Kristin Harlow

SEATTLE — Dropbox Inc. has leased four floors totaling 120,886 square feet at a speculative office tower currently under construction in Seattle’s central business district. Skanska is developing the 38-story building, known as 2+U. Dropbox, a San Francisco-based file storage and sharing company, is expected to occupy the space at 2+U in late 2020. With this new signing, 2+U is now 60 percent leased. Other tenants joining Dropbox include Indeed.com and coworking firm Spaces. The 686,000-square-foot tower is scheduled for completion this summer. Located at the corner of Second Avenue and University Street, the development is adjacent to the Seattle Art Museum and Benaroya Hall. The property is lifted 85 feet off the ground in order to create an outdoor “urban village” underneath the building. The village area will include nearly a half-acre of open space with 17,000 square feet of retail and arts space. Floor plates at 2+U will range from 18,000 to 30,000 square feet. In addition to a rooftop deck, tenants will enjoy unobstructed views of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains. Dropbox currently occupies space at the Columbia Center in the city. “We’re thrilled to expand in Seattle,” says Greg Conklin, engineering director and Seattle site …

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AcquisitionsCompany NewsRestaurantRetailTexasTop Stories

Chuck E. Cheese to Trade on New York Stock Exchange Following $1.4B Merger

by John Nelson

IRVING, TEXAS — Following a merger with the parent company of the Chuck E. Cheese brand, London-based Leo Holdings Corp. plans to rebrand itself and take the new company public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “CEC.” The enterprise value of the combined company, which will be known as Chuck E. Cheese Brands Inc., is estimated at $1.4 billion. Leo Holdings, which is self-described as a special purpose acquisition firm, has entered into a “definitive business combination agreement” with Queso Holdings Corp., which is the parent company of CEC Entertainment Inc., the owner, operator and leading franchisor of the family dining and entertainment brand Chuck E. Cheese. The other principal in the merger agreement is Queso’s controlling stockholder, an entity owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO), a publicly traded equity firm based in New York. CEC Entertainment is based in the Dallas suburb of Irving and also owns, operates and franchises Peter Piper Pizza, a family dining concept. As of year-end 2018, CEC Entertainment and its franchisees operated a system of 606 Chuck E. Cheese venues and 144 Peter Piper Pizza restaurants, with locations in 47 states and …

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Kay-Jewelers-Dulles-Town-Center
Leasing ActivityRetailTop Stories

Parent Company of Kay, Zales, Jared to Close 150 Jewelry Stores

by Taylor Williams

HAMILTON, BERMUDA — Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG), which owns jewelry retailers Kay, Zales and Jared, will close approximately 150 North American stores after the 2019 holiday shopping season, the company said in its latest earnings report. These store closings follow Signet’s previous shuttering of 262 stores, most of them in North America, and are part of a larger downsizing program that will reduce the Bermuda-based retailer’s total store count by 13 percent over a three-year period. According to the earnings report, Signet’s same-store sales declined by 2 percent during the fourth quarter of the most recent fiscal year, which ended on Feb. 2, 2019. Same-store sales were projected to drop by another 2.5 percent during the current fiscal year. In a statement, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos pointed to several factors behind the company’s struggles, including increased competition in the jewelry space and weak demand from the United Kingdom market. Drosos also noted that sales of select merchandise for the holiday season fell below projections. A Signet spokesperson also told Business Insider that the broader struggles of American malls, in which many Signet stores are housed, contributed to the decision to close this wave of stores. “Signet is too highly exposed …

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaHospitalitySoutheastTop Stories

Metrovest Equities, BLDG Management Acquire 343-Room Hotel in Capitol Hill for $111M

by Kristin Harlow

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partnership between Metrovest Equities Inc. and BLDG Management has acquired the Liaison Washington Capitol Hill, a 343-room hotel in the Capitol Hill submarket of Washington, D.C., for $111 million. Located at 415 New Jersey Ave., the property is the closest hotel to the U.S. Capitol building. It is within walking distance of Union Station, the National Mall, Georgetown University Law Center and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Amenities include an on-site restaurant, swimming pool, patio with fire pit, meeting and event space, and fitness center. The buyer plans to convert the hotel into the Yotelpad Capitol Hill. Yotel is a lifestyle-oriented hospitality concept. This will be the first Yotel extended-stay project in Washington, D.C. Daniel Peek and Cyrus Vazifdar of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB). Scott Aiese and Chris Hew of HFF arranged a bridge loan with a life insurance company for the acquisition. Pebblebrook is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and invests in upscale, full-service hotels in urban markets. The Bethesda, Md.-based company owns 61 hotels totaling approximately 14,600 rooms. The company’s stock price closed at $31.60 per share on April …

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CaliforniaLeasing ActivityOfficeTop StoriesWestern

Culver City to Become New Home for HBO’s West Coast Headquarters

by Alex Tostado

CULVER CITY, CALIF. — HBO has signed a long-term lease to move its West Coast corporate headquarters from Santa Monica, Calif. to Ivy Station in Culver City in 2021. HBO will fully occupy the five-story, 240,000-square-foot office building at Ivy Station. HBO’s current lease at Colorado Center in Santa Monica, where it has been based since 2004, expires at the end of this year. The Los Angeles Times reports that the new lease is for 15 years. A joint venture between Lowe, AECOM-Canyon Partners and Rockwood Capital broke ground on the $350 million, 5.2-acre mixed-use project in September 2017. Completion is scheduled for mid-2020. Ivy Station is situated adjacent to the Culver City station stop along the Los Angeles Metro Expo Line. The transit-oriented development will include 200 apartment units, a 148-room hotel, 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, two acres of outdoor space and 1,500 parking spaces, 300 of which will be designated for metro transit riders. “HBO is an ideal business anchor for Ivy Station, bringing to the property creative professionals that will enjoy access to public transit, host out of town guests at the hotel, and frequent the shops and restaurants that will populate the …

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LoansMultifamilyNew JerseyNortheastTop Stories

New York Life Provides $115M Refinancing for Multifamily Community in New Jersey

by David Cohen

SECAUCUS, N.J.— New York Life Real Estate Investors, on behalf of New York Life Insurance Company, has provided a $115 million loan to refinance The Harper at Harmon Meadow, a 469-unit multifamily community in Secaucus, across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan. Located at 100 Park Plaza Drive, the newly constructed community is part of the master-planned Harmon Meadow mixed-use development, which includes apartments, dining, hotels, shopping and entertainment. Amenities at The Harper at Harmon Meadow include club lounges, fitness facilities in each building, saltwater swimming pool, outdoor athletic course and yoga studio. The community features studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rents at the community start at $1,975 for studio units, $2,255 for one-bedroom units and $2,910 for two-bedroom units. New York Life Real Estate Investors provided the financing to property owner Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. Terms of the financing were not disclosed. “The property’s location in the mixed-use Harmon Meadow development and the nearby transportation links create an outstanding live-work-play environment with excellent access,” says Keith Duane, director in New York Life Real Estate Investors’ Northeast office. — David Cohen

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AcquisitionsCompany NewsIndustrialMichiganMidwestTop Stories

Kellogg to Sell Cookie and Snack Businesses for $1.3B, Including Seven Food Manufacturing Facilities

by John Nelson

BATTLE CREEK, MICH. — Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) has agreed to sell select businesses in its cookie, snack and pastry lines to Italian candy giant Ferrero Group for $1.3 billion. The sale also includes six Kellogg-owned food manufacturing facilities across the United States, as well as a Kellogg-leased facility in Baltimore. The six food plants include two assets in Chicago; two in Florence and Louisville, Ky.; one in Allyn, Wash.; and another in Augusta, Ga. Ferrero and its affiliated companies will acquire Kellogg brands such as Keebler, Mother’s, Famous Amos, Murray’s and Murray’s Sugar Free, as well as cookies manufactured for Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. by Little Brownie Bakers. The sale also includes Kellogg’s fruit and fruit-flavored snacks, pie crusts and ice cream cones businesses. In 2018, these combined businesses recorded net sales of nearly $900 million and operating profit of approximately $75 million, according to Kellogg. The Battle Creek-based food manufacturer will retain the rest of its North American snacking businesses, including its crackers, salty snacks, healthy snacks and toaster pastries brands such as Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It and Pringles. Kellogg and Ferrero expect the transaction to close in July. Evercore was lead advisor to Kellogg on the transaction, …

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