Deals

San Francisco -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced that John Stevens joined the firm’s San Francisco office as VP leasing specialist. A 25-year veteran of commercial real estate, Stevens will focus on leasing space in the firm’s 12 million-sq.-ft., third-party retail portfolio on the West Coast.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced two new hires in the South Florida office, as Dominic Delgado and Evan Richardson both joined the team as senior associates.

Delgado will focus on investment services, landlord representation, tenant representation and disposition services.  Prior to joining SRS, he worked in Miami as community association management coordinator for KW Property Management.

Costa Mesa, Calif. -- Transwestern announced the renewal of a multi-year, $4.69 million lease of a 53,164-sq.-ft. office space for Anna’s Linens in Costa Mesa’s Harbor Gateway Business Park.
 
The office will continue to be used by Anna’s Linens as its corporate headquarters.

“We are very pleased to maintain our headquarters here in Orange County, where the company was born,” said Alan Gladstone, chairman and CEO of Anna’s Linens.

Dallas -- Edge Realty Partners has announced the launch of Edge Realty Capital Markets, which will focus on the investment sales of retail, multi-family and healthcare properties.

Brandon Beeson and Mart Martindale will lead Edge Capital Markets as principals. Steven Smith is also joining the firm as an executive VP.

Beeson previously was senior director with Berkadia where he focused on representing owners in sale of retail assets.   

Dallas -- Blockbuster parent Dish Network confirmed Thursday that it will close 500 underperforming Blockbuster video stores in the first quarter, which equates to about a third of its stores.

The company, which acquired Blockbuster in 2011, said it plans to expand Dish Services offerings in the remaining Blockbuster stores. It currently offers the services in 150 stores.

New York City -- A Friday report in Crain’s New York Business said that Dallas-based 7-Eleven, which currently has 12 c-stores in Manhattan, plans to open another 14 in 2012.

Parent company Seven & I Holdings Co. said some of the 14 spaces were leased last year, but others have not been sited yet. Neighborhoods to be developed include Midtown, Greenwich Village, Chelsea and the Upper East Side. The Financial District is also on the boards, according to the report, which said that another 20 locations are planned between 2013 and 2017.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Bayer Properties announced that Jay Wiseman has been named VP of acquisitions for the company.

Wiseman was previously with CBL & Associates Properties, Chattanooga, Tenn., where his responsibilities included acquisition of malls, strip centers and office buildings nationwide. He also sourced international investments and established investment platforms in Brazil and China.
 

Phoenix -- Cole Real Estate Investments announced that it signed leases totaling nearly 640,000 sq. ft. at Cole-related retail properties during 2011.

Cole secured approximately 308,000 sq. ft. of new leases, along with 330,000 sq. ft. of renewals, bringing the occupancy rate for its portfolio of properties to 97.8%.

Mount Laurel, N.J. -- Metro Commercial Real Estate announced that Jonathan Klear has joined its full-service brokerage team.

Klear most recently worked for NAI Mertz.

Dallas – SRS Real Estate Partners announced that Pierce Mayson has joined the company as a senior associate in the Atlanta office.

Prior to joining SRS, Mayson worked as a retail investment sales broker in Newmark Knight Frank’s southeast capital group.