Development/Redevelopment

Starbucks Corp. is growing its store portfolio on a couple of different fronts.   The company plans to open stores under a new banner, called Starbucks-Reserve only, that will have a decidedly upscale twist. The brand will sell premium, small lot reserve coffee in a store space that is about twice the size of a typical Starbucks, zachs.com reported, and feature more of a café atmosphere.   

An online retailer specializing in men’s custom-tailored suits and menswear, is set to open its third physical location.   Black Label will open a store on July 11 in downtown Chicago this summer, the Chicago Tribune reported. In addition to suits, the store will also shirts, suits, denim, chinos and outerwear.   To date, the retailer has opened a store in Boston, and one in Washington, D.C. It hopes to double its store count next year, the report said.   

Federal Realty Investment Trust announced that Dan Guglielmone will take over as its CFO and treasurer next month. A 13-year veteran of Vornado, Guglielmone is currently the company’s senior VP of acquisitions. He previously spent 10 years in investment banking with the real estate and lodging group of Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup.  

A Victorian-era psychiatric hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, that’s been out of commission for 15 years will be the site of a mixed-use community of 750 residential units and 350,000 sq. ft. of retail space.   The old Hudson River State Hospital will make way for Hudson Heritage, a $250 million redevelopment project that will preserve key structures of the classic building in an attempt to create a thriving new community on the long-abandoned 156 acres.  

Durham, North Carolina-based conglomerate The Guess Corp. is seeking to acquire at least 1,000 U.S. convenience store/ gas station units in the next 12 months.   Working through a subsidiary, the company is looking to acquire an average of 100 branded and unbranded units per month. Upon completion of the purchases, Guess Corp. intends to re-brand and renovate the properties with innovative and sleek designs and provide enhanced CRM technology. The company has invited brokers to provide buyer representation with higher commissions.

The mad dash to provide same-day delivery on the part of e-commerce players like Amazon is sapping warehouse space in the U.S. As a result, retailers should budget for higher leasing rates in the year ahead.  

Muji, the low-cost, high-design Japanese retailer that had heretofore concentrated its stores in fashionable districts of New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, is making a move into New Jersey.   Muji will open an 8,600-sq.-ft. store next month at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, its first mall location in the Greater New York area. Current shops are found on Fifth Avenue and in Soho and Cooper Square in Manhattan.  

Toys “R” Us may have closed its New York name brand stores, but the retailer still has a fondness for the city.    According to Fortune, Toys “R” Us CEO David Brandon has indicated he would like to add new Toys “R” Us stores to the company’s existing Babies “R” Us New York footprint. Just don’t mention the word “flagship.”  

DLC Management announced several promotions within its national leasing team, chief among them the naming of Chris Ressa as senior VP of the department.   A one-time Sherwin Williams real estate rep, Ressa joined DLC as a leasing rep in 2007 and rose through the ranks to become VP of the Midwest region and senior VP of the Northeast/Midwest region before being put in charge of nationwide leasing for this major owner and operator of open-air shopping centers.  

Amazon.com is continuing its aggressive strategy of launching new distribution facilities and physical pickup centers.   The retailer will open a new fulfillment center in Kansas City, Kansas by the end of 2016. The 855,000-sq.-ft. facility, the second large-sized fulfillment center Amazon has announced within a span of four months, will create more than 1,000 full-time roles. In addition to this center and an upcoming facility in Edgerton, Amazon has existing Kansas facilities in Lenexa.