Real Estate

New York -- Starwood Capital Group LLC, the investment firm headed by real estate developer Barry Sternlicht, has joined the bidding for Saks Inc., according to a report by the New York Post. Starwood Capital invests in retail, office and residential real estate.

The bid by Starwood is worth about $2.5 billion, or $17-$18 per share, according to the report. The amount is roughly equal to a previously existing bid from Canadian retail conglomerate Hudson’s Bay, which also owns the Lord & Taylor department store chain.

Skechers USA’s recently remodeled East Coast flagship store on 42nd St. in Manhattan’s Times Square has incorporated five outdoor LED displays and three static displays to make its own statement on one of the world’s most visually noisy stages.

San Francisco – PBteen, a subsidiary of the Pottery Barn brand of Williams-Sonoma Inc., will open its first Annapolis, Md., store at the Westfield Annapolis shopping center on July 20. The store will include the PBteen Design Lab, which allows shoppers to digitally create room designs using drag-and-drop technology on a computer monitor.

Costa Mesa, Calif. -- Over the last three months, Planet Beauty has opened boutiques in three Southern California cities — Corona del Mar, Del Mar and Huntington Beach — bringing the chains store count to 34.

Columbus, Ohio -- Easton Town Center co-developers have announced that they will add eight new tenants to the development by August. The new tenants include:

Cleveland – The Federal Competition Commission of Mexico has voted not to authorize Sherwin Williams’ November 2012 acquisition of Mexico City-based home improvement retailer and paint producer Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V. Sherwin-Williams is reviewing the rationale for the commission's decision and says it expects to respond to the Commission's concerns in the near future.

Seattle -- Nordstrom has announced plans to open a 35,000-sq.-ft. Nordstrom Rack at Palm Beach Outlets now under construction in West Palm Beach, Fla., in the fall of 2014.

New York -- RKF has arranged the $9.25 million sale of a 6,800-sq.-ft. mixed-use building in Manhattan’s Bowery neighborhood. RKF represented the seller, 325 Bowery Development LLC, and the buyer, Atlas Bowery LLC, an affiliate of Atlas Capital Group.

Constructed in 1990, the building consists of retail and loft-style residential space on four floors above a basement and sub-basement. Peels NYC café occupies the ground floor.