HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — An affiliate of grocer Food City has purchased two acres in Huntsville from The Beach Co. The entity is Marathon Realty Corp., a real estate subsidiary of Food City parent company K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. The site is located between The Foundry, The Range and Stovehouse along Governors Drive and will be connected to the developments via a 10-foot-wide pedestrian sidewalk. Marathon Realty plans to break ground on the new store next quarter with plans for an early 2025 opening. Last year Marathon Realty entered into a development agreement with the City of Huntsville to develop six new Food City grocery stores in the greater Huntsville area.
NAPERVILLE, ILL. — NewQuest Asia-Pacific Retail is scheduled to break ground in February on the redevelopment of a former Dominick’s-anchored shopping center in Naperville. The Houston-based developer acquired the 140,892-square-foot property eight months ago in an off-market transaction. The 27-year-old center is 35 percent leased. NewQuest Asia-Pacific Retail specializes in development opportunities in markets with high Asian populations. The developer plans to reposition the Naperville shopping center with an Asian focus and incorporate green spaces. To date, roughly 62,000 square feet of leases are in various stages of negotiations, including a commitment from a specialty grocer. Teso Life, a Japanese fashion casual store, is leasing 18,016 square feet. Completion is slated for summer 2025. Nearly 20 percent of Naperville’s population is Asian, according to NewQuest.
ROCKFORD, ILL. — Quantum Real Estate Advisors Inc. has brokered the sale of a recently developed property occupied by Dollar General in Rockford for an undisclosed price. Constructed in 2021, the freestanding building totals 10,600 square feet. Dan Waszak of Quantum represented the buyer, a New York City-based investor. The seller was a Midwest-based developer.
SAN RAMON, CALIF. — PSRS has arranged $3.7 million in bridge financing of Pointe West Plaza, a retail property located in San Ramon, east of the Bay Area. Jonny Soleimani and Matthew Farzinpour of PSRS secured the financing for the undisclosed borrower. Built in 1990, the property is a 16,921-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center. Current tenants include a billiards venue, salon, bistro and Chinese restaurant. The property also features underground and surface parking, totaling 82 spaces. A debt fund provided the 12-month loan, which features no prepayment penalty.
HOUSTON — JLL has arranged the sale of Garden Oaks Shopping Center, a 13,877-square-foot retail strip center in northwest Houston. The center was built in 1950 and was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Upside Pub, Pinks Pizza, Village Liquor, Community Vet and Molly’s Mutt House. Ryan West, John Indelli and Clay Andersen of JLL represented the seller, Fifth Corner, in the transaction. Meredith Cullen and David Cook with Cushman & Wakefield represented the undisclosed buyer.
PARAMUS, N.J. — Barnes & Noble has opened a 35,000-square-foot store in the Northern New Jersey community of Paramus. The bookseller is backfilling a space formerly occupied by Big Lots at 765 Route 17 S. Marc Palestina of New Jersey-based brokerage firm The Goldstein Group represented Barnes & Noble in the lease negotiations. Joe Dougherty of Metro Commercial represented Big Lots, which previously occupied the space.
By Ryan Johnson and Tyler Grisham, managing partners and market leaders, SRS Real Estate Partners Those who live and work in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) should be grateful for the metroplex’s strong fundamentals. There are a lot of macro-level factors that are out of whack and hurting the commercial real estate business, but there are also a lot of macro factors working in favor of DFW that not many major markets in the United States can claim. Thinking glass half-full, DFW has enjoyed exceptional growth in employment, housing and population over the last decade. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, DFW now boasts nearly 8 million residents, which makes it the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area. According to the Dallas Regional Chamber, 14 major companies relocated to North Texas in 2023 — Kelly Moore Paint Co., Inbenta, McAfee Corp., Frontier Communications and West Shore Homes, among others. Thinking glass half-empty, DFW has sky-high construction costs, the highest interest rates in recent memory, highest exit cap rates/lowest valuations in recent memory and just a general market mentality that causes developers, banks and investors to exercise great caution. Active Segments, Trends Given these challenges, it may be surprising that there are retailers that are …
MIAMI — Terra and Grass River Property, two Miami-based development firms, have completed construction of Grove Central, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The property comprises a 23-story apartment tower, 1,250-space public parking garage and 170,000 square feet of retail space leased to tenants including Target and Sprouts Farmers Market. Grove Central is a public-private partnership between the co-developers and Miami-Dade County, which owns the land. The development is located at the intersection of US Highway 1 and SW 27th Avenue and connects to the adjacent Coconut Grove Metrorail Station. The project interfaces directly with The Underline, a 10-mile linear park that stretches from the Dadeland South Metrorail Station to the Miami River in downtown’s Brickell district, as well as Miami-Dade County’s bus system and the City of Miami’s trolley network. According to Terra and Grass River Property, Grove Central generated more than 1,600 construction jobs during its development and nearly 500 permanent full-time and part-time positions. The project has also spurred tens of millions of dollars in lease revenue to Miami-Dade County, which can collect property tax revenues for the first time in the site’s history. “Grove Central is an exciting milestone and a shining example …
Commercial property conversions can offer significant advantages over conventional ground-up real estate developments. Conversions can provide a head start on construction with established entitlements, existing structures, in-place utilities and entry to choice locations in otherwise built-out submarkets. Consider the Universal Buildings, Post Brothers’ conversion of two 1960s-era office buildings into more than 600 residential units and ground-floor retail just north of the District of Columbia’s Dupont Circle. The 15-story complex will feature a two-level, glass-walled fitness and recovery center with more than 10,000 square feet of training zones, equipment and classrooms. The developer is housing the fitness center and other amenities in a new atrium that replaces the upper levels of structured parking originally built within one of the former office buildings. “The location is incredible — there is probably no greater location in any major city in the country for conversion,” says Josh Guelbart, Post Brothers’ Co-Chief Operating Officer. “Having the entire block means we have light, air and hilltop views of Kalorama, Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle, three of the finest residential neighborhoods in the District. There isn’t room for new buildings of scale in those neighborhoods, and that really made this existing, large building attractive to us.” …
CHICAGO — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the $30 million sale of The Retail and Parking at Marina City, a 146,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment complex with structured parking along the Chicago Riverwalk. The property, situated at the base of two condominium buildings, is located at 333 N. Dearborn St. in the heart of the city’s River North neighborhood. Designed in 1958 by architect Bertrand Goldberg, the property was designed as a “city within a city” and has been a popular destination for locals and tourists. Prominent retail tenants include Smith & Wollensky, Legal Sea Foods, Yolk, Spin, 10Pin, Tortoise Supper Club and Jefferson Beach Yacht Sales. Michael Nieder, Keely Polczynski and John Dettlaff of JLL represented the seller, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. Sperry Equities was the buyer.