Development/Redevelopment

Chicago -- General Growth Properties and Italian restaurant chain Buca di Beppo announced Tuesday the scheduled opening of 10 Buca di Beppo restaurants set to open at various properties within the GGP mall portfolio during late summer 2012.

The multi-restaurant deal marks a significant expansion of the Buca di Beppo restaurant group. New mall locations include Governor’s Square Mall in Tallahassee, Fla., August (Ga.) Mall, Oakwood Center in New Orleans and Town East Mall in Dallas.

Northridge, Calif. -- Chicago-based General Growth Properties said Monday it will update its Northridge Fashion Center property, in Northridge, Calif., by modernizing and enhancing both the interior and exterior of the shopping center.

Renovations to the property launch in February and include new flooring, new interior and exterior dining areas, revamped color palette and lighting, a re-invented Macy’s Court with a Cyberlounge, a new Children’s Play Area, and updated entrance façade, way-finding signage and lighting.

A lineup of five new retailers will be opening at Westchester’s Ridge Hill in early spring, according to the New York City-area project’s developer Forest City Ratner Cos.

Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, White House | Black Market, The Limited and Vera Bradley will open around the same time as Lord & Taylor, slated to debut in mid-April.

New York City -- Saks Inc. will expand its distribution and fulfillment capacity, adding a new facility in Tennessee in 2012.

The new center will occupy approximately 564,000 sq. ft. of leased space and will be located in LaVergne, Tenn. It will be equipped with a sophisticated mobile-robotic fulfillment system that has been successfully deployed in Saks’ Maryland facility.

Saks expects the Tennessee facility to be operational by August 2012.

Champaign, Ill. -- Electronics and appliances retailer Hhgregg is taking a 35,000-sq.-ft. space left vacant by defunct Linens ‘N Things, at Champaign Town Center in Champaign, Ill.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores will open a 17,820-sq.-ft. store in the same shopping center. Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Mid-America Asset Management made the announcements.

Both stores are estimated to open in spring 2012, and will be adjacent tenants.

New York City -- J.C. Penney has dropped its plans to open a store in the Kress Building downtown Seattle, according to The Seattle Times.

The chain signed a lease last May for two-thirds of the building, but the space is now being shopped around for sublease, the report said.

"This had nothing to do with Seattle or the location. The timing just did not match up with their new CEO," Seattle Pacific Realty broker Elizabeth Best, who is representing J.C. Penney in its search for a sublease tenant, said in the report.

Ron Johnson isn’t afraid of making waves. Just as my page-neighbor Jeff Green suggested in his latest column, “A Penney for your Thoughts,” the Apple-CEO-turned-JCP-chief is keenly focused on reinventing a department store dinosaur into a sleek, well-oiled retail machine. And if that means reneging on prior deals, so be it.

By Craig R. Johnson, [email protected]

San Diego -- PriceSmart announced that on January 9, 2012 it entered into an agreement to acquire approximately 16,038 square meters of property in La Union, Cartago, Costa Rica, upon which it plans to build its sixth warehouse club in Costa Rica.

PriceSmart currently anticipates opening the Cartago Club in the summer 2013 in the market area where local Costa Rican press has reported that Sam's Club plans to operate its first warehouse in the Costa Rica market.

Dublin, Ireland -- Multiple reports on Thursday said that search giant Google plans to open its first stand-alone retail store, at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

The company last year in London tested a 285-sq.-ft. in-store shop where consumers could try out and buy Chromebooks and a few accessories. Located in a computer store, the in-store shop was open for approximately three months.

According to the reports, the Google store would be open to the public and would sell various Google merchandise.