KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN) has announced plans to develop a $350 million omni-channel distribution center near Kansas City. The 880,000-square-foot development will be located on ancillary land owned by the Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County, roughly 15 miles outside downtown Kansas City. The Philadelphia-based retailer is set to begin construction on the facility this fall with completion scheduled for early 2022. Documents obtained by The Kansas City Star identify Hillwood Development Co. as the developer for the project. Fort Worth, Texas-based Hillwood is led by Ross Perot Jr., son of the late Ross Perot, a billionaire who ran for president twice in the 1990s. Urban Outfitters selects the locations of its distribution centers based on a combination of factors, including location, available workforce and transportation infrastructure. Kansas City’s central location was cited as critical to the company’s distribution network. “Our priorities in identifying the home for our new omni-channel distribution center focused on people, and it was the quality of the local workforce and the commitment of their representatives in the state that convinced us this is the right place to be,” says Dave Ziel, chief development officer of Urban Outfitters. “This facility will be at the …
DETROIT — Detroit-based Rocket Cos. Inc. has begun trading today on the New York Stock Exchange. Rocket, which operates billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans Inc. and Rocket Mortgage, is offering 100 million shares at $18 each for a valuation of $1.8 billion. The company has downsized its initial public offering (IPO) from an earlier filing that announced shares would be priced between $20 and $22. Investors viewed the business as more of a consumer finance company than a technology-driven organization, which contributed to the lower valuation, according to Bloomberg. The shares are trading under the ticker symbol RKT.
By Brian Niven As we begin to reopen most parts of our society following the COVID-19 pandemic that devastated our country and economy earlier this year, many in the commercial real estate industry are beginning to take stock of the massive shifts it may have put into motion. While the pandemic has decimated many sectors — shuttering retail shops, leaving offices empty and setting off an exodus of urban apartment dwellers — prospects for industrial properties have remained strong. Demand for warehouses of all kinds has been soaring in recent years, largely on the back of the growing e-commerce industry, and the sidelining of brick-and-mortar stores has only strengthened those tailwinds. However, that does not mean that the sector will not face challenges in the years to come. While most of the country’s core markets have a healthy pipeline of dry warehouse development that will help meet demand from users, the same cannot be said for an increasingly essential part of our supply chain — cold storage facilities. Vacancy for cold storage was already at or near zero across the country, but the pandemic has set off a chain of events that is likely to place significant stress on our …
By Nazir Khalfe, Principal, Powers Brown Architecture Having designed multiple millions of square feet of speculative and build-to-suit industrial buildings in my career, I’ve witnessed some striking trends over the past two decades, especially with the advancements made in tilt-wall construction. The ability to go higher and store and ship more product with today’s technology is creating an ever-changing landscape for industrial product. We have witnessed the boom of e-commerce, advancements in logistics and automation, and all the while tried to keep up with the dynamic market forces that produce a successful industrial park. Since the Great Recession, demand for industrial space has been at a premium, not only in Texas but also in most markets throughout the United States. Out of necessity for how our lives are changing, the industrial market has become the darling of the real estate industry. In 2020, thanks to the exponential growth of e-commerce activity and manufacturing jobs, we are breaking new ground on how a standard industrial park looks, feels and operates. While COVID-19 has not changed the expansive, open-space feel of warehouses where social distancing is inherently built-in, the pandemic has started to impact the industrial world on the development side. Developers …
WALTON, KY. — Dollar General (NYSE: DG) has unveiled plans to open a 630,000-square-foot distribution facility in Walton, approximately 20 miles south of Cincinnati and the Ohio border. The $65 million investment is expected to bring 250 jobs to the city and support 800 stores. The Walton facility will serve as Dollar General’s 18th distribution center. Construction is scheduled to begin in September with operations to begin in January. Dollar General has also announced plans to build three additional DG Fresh facilities to support a shift toward self-distribution of products that require cold storage such as dairy, deli meats and frozen products. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall on a 160,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Ardmore, Oklahoma, with completion slated for spring 2021. Similarly, construction is scheduled to begin this fall on a 160,000-square-foot cold storage property in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with completion slated for summer 2021. Dollar General is currently finalizing construction of a 200,000-square-foot cold storage facility in West Sacramento, California, to complement its West Coast distribution operations. The property is scheduled to open this fall. At full capacity, each of the DG Fresh facilities are expected to create approximately 65 new jobs and support roughly 1,500 …
NEW YORK CITY — Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has signed a lease to fully occupy the office portion of The Farley Building, a mixed-use project under construction in Manhattan. The landlord, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), is redeveloping the historic property, which was formerly the James A. Farley Post Office Building. The social media giant will occupy 730,000 square feet in the building. A timeline for the move-in and the number of employees moving into Farley was not disclosed. “The Farley Building will further anchor our New York footprint and create a dedicated hub for our tech and engineering teams,” says Robert Cookson, Facebook’s vice president of real estate and facilities. The Farley Building spans a double-wide city block between 31st and 33rd streets and 8th and 9th avenues. The property is part of Vornado’s Penn District development. Vornado owns more than 10 million square feet in Penn District, which is undergoing a $2 billion redevelopment, not including infrastructure and transit improvements by City of New York totaling $3 billion. Penn District includes the Farley Building, Penn 1 and Penn 2, all of which are under construction. Penn 1 and 2 are redevelopments of One Penn Plaza and Two Penn Plaza, …
NEW YORK CITY AND FREMONT, CALIF. — The list of apparel retailers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy grew longer over the weekend as the parent companies of Lord & Taylor and Men’s Wearhouse both filed petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure their debt loads. Le Tote Inc., a New York City-based e-commerce firm specializing in the clothing sector that owns Lord & Taylor, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Tailored Brands, the Fremont-based parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, filed in a district court in Texas. Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor about a year ago for $100 million from Hudson’s Bay Co. At that time, Lord & Taylor operated about 40 department stores around the country. Approximately half of those stores will now close. In mid-March, Hudson’s Bay Co., the Canadian firm that also owns Saks Fifth Avenue, also sold a 660,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan that had served as Lord & Taylor’s office hub. Amazon bought the property for $1.15 billion to serve as its New York City headquarters. Just two weeks ago, Tailored Brands unveiled a corporate restructuring plan that …
CANTON, MASS. — Dunkin’ Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) reported a total decrease in revenue of 20 percent during the second quarter and announced that it will close about 350 stores worldwide during the second half of the year. These closures follow the company’s announcement to shutter about 450 stores that are housed in Speedway gas stations and convenience marts. Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’, which also owns Baskin-Robbins, reported that approximately 90 percent of its international locations for both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins were open as of July 25. Dunkin’s stock price opened at $68.61 per share on Friday, July 31, down from $81.58 per share a year ago.
CHICAGO AND BRENTWOOD, TENN. — Ventas, a Chicago-based REIT, has restructured its master lease with Brookdale in response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ventas owns 120 Brookdale-managed communities totaling 10,174 units. As part of the restructuring, Brookdale sold five communities that it both owned and operated to Ventas. Brentwood-based Brookdale will continue to operate those properties. Terms of the agreement include a reduction in rents totaling $500 million over the remaining lease term, which ends Dec. 31, 2025. Brookdale surrendered its $47 million security deposit and agrees to pay $115 million in cash to Ventas. In addition, Brookdale issued a $45 million unsecured, interest-only, pre-payable note to Ventas, with an initial interest rate of 9 percent per annum and maturing at the same time as the lease expiration. Lastly, Brookdale issued 16.3 million shares of its stock to Ventas at a value of $3 per share. The transaction represents approximately 8 percent of all Brookdale shares. Centerview Partners served as financial advisor to Ventas. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP are serving as legal counsel to Ventas.
SEATTLE — Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) reported that the company’s U.S. comparable store sales declined 40 percent, with comparable transactions down 52 percent through its 13-week fiscal third quarter ending June 28. Additionally, the company reported a consolidated net revenue of $4.2 billion, representing a 38 percent decline from last year primarily due to lost sales related to the COVID-19 outbreak. On the shareholder side, the company experienced a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss per share of 58 cents, down from earnings per share of $1.12 in the prior year. Despite decreased sales and a decline in net revenue, Starbucks opened 130 net new stores in the third quarter, resulting in 5 percent year-over-year unit growth and ending the period with 32,180 stores globally. The company currently operates or licenses 15,243 locations in the United States. As of July 28, approximately 97 percent of Starbucks’ global company-operated stores are open, with 96 percent of U.S. locations and 99 percent of China locations open. Currently 87 percent of the company’s global licensed store portfolio is open, with temporary closures predominantly in airport, college and university locations within the United States and Canada. Starbucks’ stock price closed at $77.42 per …