Development/Redevelopment

A 25-year-old outlet center in East Naples, Florida, is undergoing an extensive facelift and seeking new retail blood, according to Crossman & Company, which has just been signed as its leasing agent.

Once filled with shoppers, the Naples Outlet Center has dropped in recent years due to an economic downturn in the area, according the Naples Daily News.  In 2014, nearly half of its 40 stores were vacant.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s new store in New York City is unlike any other the retailer has opened to date.

Located at Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, the 86,000-sq.-ft. store is decidedly smaller than most Saks’ locations. It feels more like a boutique than a department store, with some traditional departments, such as handbags eliminated. (Handbags and certain other products are grouped by brand as opposed to category.) It also boasts such new services as a “power lunch” offering.

Patton Square Shopping Center in Woodruff, South Carolina, has been acquired by Pro Vest Properties for $7.3 million dollars. SRS Real Estate partners brokered the deal for the seller, an affiliate of Chen Development.

“Patton Square is a solid grocery-anchored neighborhood center with minimal competition in the market,” said Pierce Mayson, VP for SRS’ Southeast Investment Sales Team. “With a long-term anchor lease and very solid sales numbers, this asset is an excellent purchase for the buyer.”

Officials in Sarasota, Florida, are envisioning building a mixed-use project on the site of the town’s Ringling Shopping Center, the site over which Walmart lost a fight to build a new store.

The 9.7-acre site could accommodate 222 residential units and 175,000 sq. ft. of office and retail space. Customer traffic at Ringling Shopping Center, Sarasota’s oldest, had fallen off precipitously in recent years.

Top suppliers don’t seem very worried about Macy’s looming store closings. And neither does the CEO of Gap Inc., according to a report by CNBC.com.   Gap chief executive Art Peck told attendees at Goldman Sachs' Annual Global Retailing Conference that he sees the Macy's store closures as an opportunity to grab market share, the report said.  

Kimco Realty Corp. has purchased the remaining 85% interest in a four-property joint venture portfolio, a deal that includes the assumption of $103 million in mortgage debt. The company also announced it had acquired a Whole Foods-anchored center in the D.C. area for $95 million.  

Construction has begun on a 240,000-sq.-ft expansion of the Staten Island Mall, the largest shopping center in the New York City borough.   The multi-phase project will take two years to complete, and will add some 75,000 sq. ft. of space to Macy’s plus 40,000 sq. ft. for a new Dave & Busters and a 12-option food court. A new wing with a three-level parking deck is destined for one side of the General Growth Properties mall.  

10 Corso Como, the eternally cool Milanese retailer, is coming to the Big Apple.   The Howard Hughes Corp, announced that the Milan-based retailer will open its first U.S. store in the Seaport District of lower Manhattan as part of the development’s ongoing transformation.    

Petco will be busy in September.   The retailer announced it will open 13 stores in September, along with one relocation. The expansion reflects Petco’s 2016 growth plan, which includes 34 new Petco stores and one new Unleashed by Petco year-to date.  

Photo: Noel Mannion   Noel Mannion, who spent the bulk of his career with the National Realty & Development Corp., has been named the Purchase, New York-based company’s executive VP of property operations.   Mannion, previously managing director of operations, will be responsible for overseeing budgeting, maintenance, repair and improvement projects, billing, lease administration, and risk management for NRDC’s portfolio of more than 78 projects in 14 states.