Development/Redevelopment

Fabletics, the athleisure brand co-founded by actress Kate Hudson in 2013, continues to expand in the physical space.   The e-commerce retailer, which opened its first brick-and-mortar outpost in 2015, plans to open 12 stores in 2017, giving it a total of 30 locations throughout the continental United States in just 23 months.       

JCPenney is pursuing a possible sale and partial leaseback of its headquarters building in Plano, Texas, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce debt and manage expenses.

The company announced Friday that a combination of favorable market conditions and a surplus of available square footage within the building make this an attractive real estate opportunity.

Lululemon Athletica will open the first U.S. outpost of the brand’s design incubator “lab” format in downtown Manhattan, in March.

It’s only the second location for the unusual concept. The first, opened in 2009, is in the company’s hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The nation’s two leading mattress specialty firms are one.

On Friday, Mattress Firm completed its $780 million acquisition of rival Sleepy’s. The combined company will have annual sales of over $3.6 billion through approximately 3,500 retail locations in 48 states.

As we look at the white hot commercial real estate market, it’s clear that value-add and opportunistic investors are chasing deals in new asset classes and locations that are less than ideal. And it makes sense: they are return-driven, happy to take more risks to chase higher yields. But when the market inevitably comes down, they’ll have more to lose.

It makes no sense for Amazon.com to open the type of physical bookstores it helped obliterate, not when the online giant already has the physical infrastructure in place to support a large scale rollout of another type of store in one of retail’s hottest sectors.

Houston -- Baker Katz, an X Team International partner and full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in retail tenant representation, investment sales, and project development and leasing, announced that it has purchased 30,000 sq. ft. of land in Houston and completed a 7,000-sq.-ft. lease on behalf of Advance Auto Parts. Construction will slated to begin this month with an opening in May 2016.

Los Angeles -- Westfield invested $78.3 million into LAX terminal 2 in Los Angeles, transforming nearly 76,000 sq. ft., including more than 15,000 sq. ft. of new dining and retail at Los Angeles International Airport. According to Westfield, the upgrade brings together a vibrant design, local restaurants and signature retail, creating a more holistic customer journey.

Newk’s Eatery is on track with its plans to double in size in the next three years.

The Jackson, Mississippi-based fast-casual chain entered six new markets and increased its store count by 27% in 2015, opening 20 new locations. It currently operates 96 eateries in 13 states.

Publix Super Markets has signed two leases for its first stores in Virginia.

The first Publix locations in that state will be in Bristol and in the greater Richmond area of Glen Allen. The Bristol store, at 54,000 square feet, will be located at the northeast corner of Lee Highway & Clear Creek Road in Washington County. In the greater Richmond area, the Glen Allen store, at 49,000 square feet, will be located at the northeast corner of Nuckols Road & Twin Hickory Road in Henrico County.