Redevelopment initiatives in Cleveland’s urban core will attract rental households to the area, while healthy job growth and a lackluster single-family housing market will uphold modest demand in the suburbs. Among ongoing projects in the urban core, the $2 billion redevelopment of University Circle, which includes the expansion of the VA Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, has created more than 4,000 jobs since construction started in 2005. The renovations are expected to be complete by 2015 and will support over 36,000 jobs in the area. Surrounding neighborhoods such as Beachwood, Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights will benefit most as roughly 30 percent of the employees live in these areas. Many of these young professionals occupy apartments and will delay purchasing single-family homes, a trend that will sustain demand throughout the metro area. As a result, most submarkets will post vacancy decreases this year, providing many owners with enough leverage to ease concessions and lift rents. Construction pipeline Development slowed significantly during the last year, as only one apartment complex came on line. The 38-unit University Lofts was delivered in the Cleveland Heights/Shaker Heights area in the first half of 2011. The first phase of the Uptown project will …
Apartment investors in several major metros across the country, especially Northern California, are hoping 2012 is a carbon copy of 2011. Effective rents for new leases in San Francisco increased a whopping 14.6 percent in 2011 and 12.3 percent in San Jose, according to newly released data from MPF Research. “The Bay Area is in a different stratosphere,” said Greg Willett, vice president of research and analysis at Carrollton, Texas-based MPF. Willett’s update on the vital signs of the multifamily market was the centerpiece of a webinar focusing on apartment development hosted by Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects LP on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Although the annual gains in effective rents for new lesases weren't nearly as dramatic in Boston and Chicago, both markets were strong performers with increases of 8.3 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. One big reason for such a healthy bump in rents was that the occupancy rate nationally rose 1.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011 to reach 94.6 percent, according to MPF. Occupancy was up nearly 3 percentage points from late 2009 when the market bottomed out. Meanwhile, the annual change in effective rents was 4.7 percent in the …
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. — Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holding Corp. plans to close as many as 120 Sears and Kmart stores following poor sales during the holidays. The company expects the closures to generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. Sears Holding also expects the sale or sublease of real estate holdings to add more cash. The company predicts adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011 will be less than half the $933 million it reported for the fourth quarter of 2010. The retailer has yet to determine which stores will be closed. The price of Sears stock (Nasdaq: SHLD) closed at $31.78 per share on Dec. 30, 2011, down from $73.69 per share a year earlier.
GREENVILLE, S.C., AND JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — BI-LO and Winn-Dixie Stores (NASDAQ: WINN) have plans to merge to create an organization of approximately 690 grocery stores in eight states in the Southeast. “We are very excited about the merger of BI-LO and Winn-Dixie,” said Randall Onstead, chairman of Greenville, S.C.-based BI-LO, in a statement. “With no overlap in our markets, the combined company will have a perfect geographic fit that will create a stronger platform from which to provide our customers great products at a great value, while continuing to offer exceptional service.” BI-LO currently has 207 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, and Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie has 480 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. The stores will continue to operate under their current banners. Under the terms of the agreement, BI-LO will acquire all outstanding shares of Winn-Dixie stock in the merger, valued at $560 million. Shareholders will receive $9.50 in cash per share of Winn-Dixie common stock, a premium of approximately 75 percent more than the closing price of Winn-Dixie common stock on Dec. 16, which was $5.43 a share, down from $6.92 a year ago. Upon completion of the merger, Winn-Dixie will become a …
Liz Burlingame For all of his financial success, philanthropist and billionaire grocery magnate Frederik Meijer insisted on simple living. He drove an old car and he and his wife, Lena, lived in the modest Grand Rapids home they built in 1957. “He was down-to-earth and very approachable,” says Earl Clements, a principal at the Grand Rapids office of Colliers International, who first befriended Meijer in the 1980s. “And it was never 'Mr. Meijer.' He said, 'Call me Fred.'” Meijer, the founder and chairman emeritus of Meijer Inc. super center chain, died Nov. 25 in Grand Rapids. He was 91. Meijer's rise in the retail world began simply enough in Greenville, Mich. At 14, Meijer was a grocery bagger for his Dutch immigrant father Hendrik's store. Hendrik was a barber by trade, but opened his first store in 1934 in the grip of the Great Depression. In 1962, the Meijers' opened their first department store called Thrifty Acres. They were pioneers of the one-stop-shopping concept later replicated by Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. The stores were renamed Meijer in 1984 and the company became one of the largest family-owned retail businesses. Today, Meijer stores have expanded throughout the Midwest, with about 200 …
ATLANTA — A joint venture between San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group and Atlanta-based TriBridge Residential has purchased the 298-unit Century at Perimeter Park, located at 6210 Peachtree-Dunwoody Rd. in Atlanta. Derrick Bloom and David Gutting of Jones Lang LaSalle's Atlanta office represented Centennial Holdings, the seller, in the transaction.
BOSTON — NAI Hunneman has brokered a 17,901-square-foot industrial lease at 45 Sixth Rd. in Woburn, Mass. David Gilkie of NAI Hunneman's Boston office represented the landlord, Woburn Group LLC. James Stubblebine of The Stubblebine Co. represented the tenant, Barbour Stockwell Inc.
MISSION — FREEBIRDS World Burrito is opening a new 2,705-square-foot restaurant, located at 2521 E. 83, Ste. 600 in Mission. Concept owner, Emeryville, Calif.-based Tavistock Restaurants, operates 56 FREEBIRDS restaurants in Texas and California. The restaurant will be open to the public on Nov. 10.
SANDY SPRINGS, GA. — A joint venture between Tribridge Residential and Stockbridge Capital Group has purchased the 298-unit Century Perimeter Park, located at 6210 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. in Sandy Springs, from Centennial Holding Co. for $39.7 million. The property is located in the Perimeter Center submarket of Atlanta. Derrick Bloom, David Gutting, Vince Lefler and Porter Jones of Jones Lang LaSalle's Atlanta office represented the seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — In spring 2012, construction will begin on the $400 million renovation of the 2.2 million-square-foot Macy’s flagship store, located at Herald Square in New York City. The four-year project, which will create 1,600 construction-related positions, is slated for completion in the fall of 2015. The iconic flagship store opened in 1902 on the corners of Broadway and 34th Street, and Seventh Avenue and 34th Street. Three phases of expansion occurred between 1902 and 1931, when the store reached its current size. The renovation will impact both the interior and the exterior of the building. Highlights of the remodel include: – A 100,000-square-foot expansion of selling space, to total 1.2 million square feet. – Creation of a 63,000-square-foot women’s shoe department (including stockrooms). It will be the largest women’s shoe department in the world. – Expansion of men’s merchandise, which will span 200,000 square feet on seven floors upon completion. – A 1,100-seat table-service restaurant on the sixth floor with window access to Broadway and views of the Empire State Building and Midtown Manhattan. – The addition of home merchandise on the eighth and ninth floors, including a demonstration kitchen and De Gustibus Cooking School. – Addition …