Deals

Three City Sports stores are being given a new lease on life.

Modell’s Sporting Goods has acquired three prime Northeast locations from City Sports, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2015 and subsequently announced plans to close all its stores. Beginning in early 2016, the stores, which range from 7,500 sq. ft. - 9,000 sq. ft. and are located in Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., will start to transition to the Modell’s format.

Batavia, Ill. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corp. announced its Investment sales team brokered the sale of The Shoppes at Windmill Place in Batavia, Illinois. Cincinnati-based Phillips Edison purchased the 122,176-sq. ft. grocery-anchored property.

The Shoppes at Windmill Place is anchored by Jewel Osco and features national retailers including Comcast, Dunkin’ Donuts, Mattress Firm, Subway and more.

Auto chain Pep Boys announced Monday that a $16.50 per share takeover bid by activist investor Carl Icahn is a "superior offer" to a rival proposal by Bridgestone Retail Operations in September.

It's just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of who gets to acquire Pep Boys, which has 800 locations in 35 states.

Pep Boys says it now prefers to take the offer from Icahn Enterprises and that Tokyo's Bridgestone Corp. has until Wednesday to up its bid.

Springfield, Va. -- PREIT announced that Springfield Town Center in Springfield, Virginia, has recorded $505 PSF in sales for tenants less than 10,000 sq. ft. open during the center's first full year of operation, 18% above the company's portfolio average as of September 30, 2015.

The newly redeveloped 1.35 million sq. ft. regional mall was acquired by PREIT March 2015 and celebrated its grand re-opening in October 2014 after undergoing a dramatic renovation and rebranding.

Houston --

Steel City Pops has leased 3,710-sq. ft. of retail space in Heights Plaza, a specialty retail center. Kyle Knight with the Houston office of The Weitzman Group handled negotiations as tenant representative for Steel City Pops.

Heights Plaza, a project of Houston developer Radom Capital, represents the redevelopment of a historic retail property that is home to several Texas-based concepts, including Bird’s Barbershop.

Houston -- Baker Katz announced the sale of a 2.12-acre property with an existing 13,000 sq. ft. office building located in Houston, near the cross streets of U.S. Highway 59 N and West Little York Road.

Baker Katz principal Kenneth Katz made the announcement.

Westfield Corp. announced Monday it has sold five of its U.S. shopping malls — totaling more than 6 million sq. feet of retail space across four states — to help fund a property development program. The move is line with the company’s recent strategy to focus on its flagship assets, which include the new World Trade Center mall, due to open in spring 2016.

Occupancy costs are among the largest expenses for any retailer. Total lease obligations can exceed long term debt in many companies, reducing profitability and hindering growth. It doesn’t have to be that way though if operators follow four simple rules of retail real estate.

The retail comeback of the New York City borough of Staten Island continues.

BFC Partners, which is developing Staten Island’s 340,000-sq.-ft. Empire Oulets center, announced it will develop an artisanal food market showcasing the best local and international purveyors for the center.

BFC is partnering with the creative team behind Gansevoort Market on the project.

The Lone Star State is going to get its fourth Ikea.

The City Council of Grand Prairie, Texas, has approved Ikea’s plans to build a second store in the Dallas-Fort Worth-area. Pending remaining approvals and permits, construction of Ikea Grand Prairie could begin fall 2016, with an opening in fall 2017. It will be the company’s fourth store in the state of Texas.