Development/Redevelopment

New York City -- Saks Inc. announced Tuesday it will shutter its Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Dallas Galleria on June 15. The retailer has operated a store in Dallas since 1982, and the summer closing will leave some 120 associates with the choice of transfer or severance.

Simultaneous with the Saks departure announcement was news from department store chain Belk that it will fill the vacated Galleria space with a $20-million, 170,000-sq.-ft. flagship store that starts construction in July and is slated to open spring 2014. 

New York -- Starbucks Corp. is expanding its drive-thru format, the chain said in its first-quarter earnings call. According to company officials, more than half of the approximate 1,500 new locations it plans to open in the United States during the next five years will be drive-thrus.

Starbucks plans to remodel about 1,400 U.S. locations in 2013. Roughly 500 of those locations will receive a major overhaul.

New York -- Barnes & Noble is planning to shutter approximately one-third of its stores during the next 10 years, CEO Mitchell Klipper said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. As of Jan. 23, the company operated 689 stores. (The company also operates a separate division of 674 college book stores.)

“In 10 years we'll have 450 to 500 stores,” said Klipper in the interview, who noted that, even with the reduced store count, “it’s a good business model.”

PHILADELPHIA — Teen and tween retailer Five Below will open 60 stores this year, including its first-ever locations in Texas.

The retailer said it will open four to five stores in Austin, Texas, and 10 to 12 stores in Dallas by late summer, with the potential for more than 100 stars in the Lone Star Sate stores over time.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- A Friday report by Mid-America Real Estate Corp. found that 2012 shopping center construction in the Chicagoland area grew 10% year-over-year, after a four-year decline.

According to the 2012-2013 Chicagoland Shopping Center Report, square footage increased from 1.02 million sq. ft. of space in 2011 to 1.14 million sq. ft. – a difference of about 113,000 sq. ft.

Philadelphia -- Teen and tween retailer Five Below will open 60 stores this year, including its first-ever locations in Texas.

The retailer said it will open four to five stores in Austin, Texas, and 10 to 12 stores in Dallas by late summer, with the potential for more than 100 stars in the Lone Star Sate stores over time.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Regency Centers said Wednesday it has appointed Joanna Rotonde to lead the company’s acquisitions and dispositions activities in the northeastern U.S.

Rotonde will focus on the expansion markets of Boston, Philadelphia and metro New York, and is charged with identifying, evaluating and structuring profitable property acquisition and disposition opportunities within Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.  

Rotonde previously served as assistant VP for Urstadt Biddle Properties.

London -- Three cities in Germany are ranked the top five European markets for commercial real estate investment, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Munich took the top spot in the report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013,” followed by Berlin, London, Istanbul and Hamburg. The ranking of 27 cities across Europe was based on respondents’ expectations for market performance in 2013.