Mergers & Acquisitions

Phillips Edison, a major player in grocery-anchored centers, has acquired the Mission Hills Shopping Center in Naples, Florida, according to The Real Deal, a south Florida real estate site.     The 11-year-old, 85,078-sq.-ft. center anchored by Winn-Dixie and Anytime Fitness is 97% leased, according to the seller, The Hampshire Companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.   More than 3,000 homes are under construction within two miles of the Mission Hills center, according to Hampshire.

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American Apparel Inc. reportedly is preparing to file for its second bankruptcy just nine months after it emerged from its first one.     According to Bloomberg, the beleaguered retailer, whose sales continue to slide, could file as early as in the next few weeks.  

Amazon’s cloud services business is on fire.   Amazon Web Services holds a 45% market share of the worldwide public market for Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which is greater than Microsoft, Google and IBM’s shares combined, according to a quarterly analysis by Synergy Research Group.  

A big mall developer thinks Aerospostale still has plenty of life left in it.   Simon Property Group, along with General Growth Properties and several other companies, bought the failing chain out of bankruptcy in September.  Speaking to a group of investors last week,  CEO David Simon expressed confidence in Aeropostale’s ability to regain momentum.  

Modell’s Sporting Goods is opening a flagship on the site of a former rival.   Modell’s will open a two-level, 20,000-sq.-ft. store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in a site formerly occupied by Sports Authority. The opening is slated for mid-November.    The store will become Modell’s flagship store in Manhattan, said William Rudin, CEO of property manager Rudin Management Company, in a release.  

Five grocery tech experts chimed in on the recent report that Amazon is planning a major move into the brick-and-mortar grocery store space, and see the potential for up to 2,000 branded grocery stores over the next 10 years.   

The nation’s largest auto dealership chain is expanding its brand into new areas of the automotive retail sector.    AutoNation announced it will debut a new format, a standalone concept called AutoNation USA, that will be dedicated to used-car sales and also serve as service centers, offering scheduled maintenance and repair work along with express service. The company has identified 25 sites to launch the concept, with five expected to open in 2017.     

Town Center Plaza, an 82,000-sq.-ft. center in Palm Desert, California, near Joshua Tree National Park, has been acquired by Citivest Commercial Investments for $19.8 million.   Constructed in 1993, the center’s tenants include Trader Joe’s, Michael’s, Fisherman’s Market and Grill, and Tuesday Morning. Colliers International brokered the deal on behalf of the seller, Town Center Plaza LP.