Development/Redevelopment

Retailers are generally optimistic about 2016, with such factors as low gas pricing and the housing market uptick working in the industry’s favor.

That’s according to a survey of store managers by real estate services firm Levin Management, which has 95 properties in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina. Several industry sources have also expressed a positive outlook, including Kiplinger, which anticipates retail will grow approximately 4% this year, and Trading Economics which expects 3.6% growth.

The Southeast’s leading supermarket operator will give new meaning to its tag line “where shopping is a pleasure” when it opens a new small format on the campus

Boston -- The Wilder Companies announced that Shelley M. Anderson has been named director of new business development, a newly created position for the company. Anderson will be responsible for developing retail real estate opportunities to expand the company’s portfolio of open-air centers throughout the eastern portion of the U.S. She will focus on existing center acquisitions, exploring joint venture opportunities with existing owners and growing the company’s burgeoning third-party services business.

On the heels of announcing it would close more than 150 stores in the United States, Walmart says it will open 15 supercenters this month in Canada.

These grand openings bring Walmart Canada's total store count to 400 stores, including 312 supercenters and 88 discount stores. The company says its 15 supercenter projects represent an investment of more than $100 million and have generated approximately 700 new store jobs and 1,450 construction and trade jobs in that nation.

Macy’s announced that a Bloomingdale’s store will open in spring 2017 in Kuwait as part of the company’s strategic partnership with Al Tayer Group LLC.

This will be Bloomingdale’s second international location (the first opened in Dubai in 2010) and ahead of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi in 2018 – all in partnership with Al Tayer.

Swire Properties Inc, one of South Florida's leading international developers of urban real estate, along with retail co-developers Whitman Family Development and Simon Property Group, announced new tenants set to join Brickell City Centre's, a 500,000-sq.-ft- open-air shopping center under construction in the heart of Miami’s Brickell neighborhood.

Citing a Virtual Builders Exchange report, the San Antonio Business Journal last week reported H-E-B would be opening a pureplay convenience store operation with plans to construct a 7,500-sq.-ft. convenience and fuel center.

Citing a Virtual Builders Exchange report, the San Antonio Business Journal last week reported H-E-B would be opening a pureplay convenience store operation with plans to construct a 7,500-square-foot convenience and fuel center. "The convenience store market in San Antonio has become increasingly competitive over the past few years, made even more so with local CST Brands agressive expansion plans," the business journal reported.

Marsh on Tuesday affirmed its commitment to the Bloomington, Indiana market and the company's two other Bloomington stores, 1825 Kinser Pike and 123 South Kingston Drive, following the closure of its location at 3600 West Third Street.

The Kinser Pike store will begin an extensive remodel immediately, Marsh reported, along with the copmany's Teal Road store in Lafayette, Indiana. Other recent remodels include Marsh's Kingston Drive store in Bloomington, as well as its Salisbury Street location in West Lafayette.

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As more of my work brings me into contact with mixed-use developments in urban core markets, it’s clear to me that there are some important changes taking place – changes that are fueling the ongoing mixed-use renaissance in many cities.