Development/Redevelopment

Livonia, Mich. -- Schostak Brothers & Company has completed leases for five new tenants at its Northville Park Place property, located in Northville, Michigan.

A joint venture between Schostak Brothers & Company and REI Investment Group, the 65,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use development is set to welcome: Tom + Chee grilled cheese and tomato soup restaurant; Red Olive restaurant; Sports Clips; Gazelle Sports; and MOD Pizza.

Clarksville, Tenn. -- Francesca’s Collections will open a 1,353-sq.-ft. store at Cafaro’s Governor’s Square Mall, in Clarksville, Tennessee. The new store, located across from Gap/Gap Kids, is slated to open May 2015.

Governor’s Square Mall, owned and managed by Cafaro Company, comprises over one million sq. ft. of retail space. It is anchored by Dillard’s, Belk, Sears, J.C. Penney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, Cinema Ten and over 100 other specialty shops and services.
 

Owasso, Okla. -- GBT Realty Corporation announced that it has locked in a third Academy Sports & Outdoor location for the Tulsa area, in the suburb of Owasso, Oklahoma. GBT acquired the 5.8-acre site on Dec. 30 for $2 million. Construction is underway on the $10-million development.   

Overall holiday shopping season sales numbers have been rolling in, and the news confirms what many retail real estate analysts (including myself) suspected: 2014 holiday sales were strong. Nothing earth-shattering — but plenty good enough to chalk this one up as a win. There were some bright and not-so-bright spots (December sales were weaker than expected, for example, and numbers didn’t hit some of the more optimistic overall projections), but the takeaway is that we did see the anticipated increase that the industry was looking for.

New York -- Uniqlo will enter Canada in the fall of 2016, opening a store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto, and one at the Toronto Eaton Centre.

Uniqlo currently operates some 1,500 stores, with locations in Japan, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K. and the United States.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corporation announced t that Ray Payne, currently VP, real estate west coast, has been promoted to group VP, real estate. Payne succeeds Karen Smith, who retired last year after more than 35 years with the company.

In his new position, Payne will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s real estate strategy nationwide, including establishing a pipeline of properties for new and relocated stores.

By Kris Bjorson, JLL

Things didn’t work for Target in Canada, but that hasn’t deterred Japan’s Fast Retailing Co., from announcing plans to enter the market with its UNIQLO format.

The company’s first stores aren’t expected to open until the fall of 2016 when two flagship locations offering budget priced apparel measuring 24,000 and 28,000 square feet are introduced in Toronto.

Mesa, Ariz. -- Brown Group announced that Fry’s Food & Drug will anchor the retail developer’s new Mulberry Marketplace, to be built at the northwest corner of Guadalupe Road and Signal Butte Road in Mesa, Arizona.

The development is comprised of 17.70 acres – 5.3 acres owned by Brown Group partners Gary Brown and Todd Kjar, and 12.4 acres owned by Fry’s. Mulberry Marketplace will be the third Fry’s-anchored center Brown Group has developed in the last five years

Tarrytown, N.Y. -- DLC Management Corporation announced the promotions of Adam Greenberg and Heather Moon from associate directors of leasing to directors of leasing for their respective regions.
 
According to DLC, both Greenberg and Moon have demonstrated strong deal-making skills through the number of deals they have completed in any given year, problem-solving for key spaces/vacancies, and the execution of overall property business plans.