Real Estate

Chicago -- The Opus Group has begun construction of a 31,175-sq.-ft. center in Glen Ellyn, Ill., near Chicago. A 20,300-sq.-ft. The Fresh Market will anchor the project.

The site, a vacated car dealership, will include patio seating and 186 parking spaces.

The center is 75% leased. In-line tenants include Great Clips and the first Tide Dry Cleaners in the Chicago area.

Serving the Glen Ellyn and North Wheaton communities, the center is slated to open in late 2013.

Green Bay, Wis. – Shopko intends to open five  stores under its Shopko Hometown banner in Afton, Wyo., St. Peter, Minn., and Winneconne, Ellsworth and Tomahawk, Wis., in late fall of this year.

The Shopko Hometown format is designed to serve smaller rural communities with the same product assortments available in larger areas and Shopko currently operates more than 180 stores in this format.

Montreal -- Canadian jewelery retailer Birks will introduce a new retail concept in the summer of 2013, with new stores opening in DIX30 Complex, Brossard, Quebec, and in the new Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario.

The new format, developed in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, will feature round 1,500 sq. ft. of retail space and be dedicated to jewelry from the Birks Collection.

Senior editor Katherine Boccaccio sat down with five retail real estate leaders in Las Vegas at RECon 2013, and all provided insights into not only their own companies but the industry as a whole.

Watch Videos

Tampa, Fla. -- RMC Property Group and The Ross Realty Group have merged. Effective June 3, Ross Realty’s investment sales and office leasing team has become RMC Ross Realty, and the Ross Realty property management team has become RMC Property Group.

The merged company oversees the management, leasing and sales of more than 8.4 million sq. ft. of commercial property and more than 900 tenants.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Old Colony Square Center in Jersey City, N.J., will look like new by the end of the year. Owner National Realty & Development Corp. will begin renovations to the Pathmark-anchored center this summer.

New York -- Fixtures Living, which specializes in high-end kitchen, bath, outdoor and lifestyle appliances, will open its first East Coast location at Lenox Marketplace in Atlanta. Additional stores are scheduled to open in Glendale, Calif., Chicago and Dallas

The emerging retailer, whose stores average 27,000 sq. ft., currently has three locations in California, in Costa Mesa, Rancho Mirage and San Diego.  

New York -- Canadian burger chain Big Smoke Burger has leased its first New York City location at 70 Seventh Ave., between West 14th and West 15th Streets in Chelsea, according to Winick Realty Group who represented Group 868 Inc., the landlord in the transaction.

The 2,380-sq.-ft. property includes a 500-sq.-ft. basement and an 880-sq.-ft. outdoor courtyard.

Big Smoke Burger plans to open the restaurant within the next four months. RKF represented Big Smoke Burger.