Real Estate

The National Association of Home Builders sees the residential construction industry gaining momentum in a larger economy that includes a few wild cards.

At the International Builders’ Show here in Las Vegas, the Washington, D.C.-based trade association updated its 2013 housing starts forecast to 949,000 starts in 2013, up 21.5% from the prior year. At the end of January, the group had forecast 932,000.   

New York -- Wegmans has confirmed plans to open a store in Alexandria, Va., in 2014, according to Washington Business Journal.

The store will be located in Hilltop Village, which is being developed by Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors. The project will feature some 250,000 sq. ft. of retail, anchored by the 143,000-sq.-ft. Wegmans, and 100,000 sq. ft. of office.

New York -- Shares of Safeway Inc. shares rose as much as 9% on Wednesday on rumors of increased buyout interest for its Canada operations by Canadian grocer Metro Inc. and Loblaw Companies Ltd.

On Tuesday, Metro announced it was selling off nearly half its stake in Couche-Tard Inc. for $482 million.

In December, Loblaw announced plans to spin off the vast majority of its property assets into a real estate investment trust.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn — Dollar General has big plans for growth in 2013 with the creation of 6,000 new jobs and the planned addition of 635 new stores and 550 relocations. With the addition of these jobs in 2013, Dollar General will have created approximately 30,000 jobs in the last six years.

A new research report by The NPD Group unveiled information I already knew:  the restaurant space is growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, the total restaurant count in the U.S. increased by 4,442 units over last year, according to NPD’s recent restaurant census Fall 2012 ReCount.

That’s no small potatoes.

Some 616,008 eateries now dot the country, representing a .7% increase over last year, with the biggest growth coming from the quick-serve segment (up 1% over last year, or an added 4,037 units).

DALLAS  — The growing popularity of Netflix, Hulu and other on-demand video rental services continues to take a toll on traditional brick-and-mortar video rental stores. 

Dish Network reported that its subsidiary, Blockbuster will close about 300 of its stores in the United States in the coming weeks. The closures will result in the loss of about 3,000 jobs and leave the chain with some 500 U.S. locations.

New York -- Walmart on Tuesday updated its plans for its Canadian division, saying that it plans to complete at least 37 supercenter projects in the country during the company’s next fiscal year (February 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014). The announcement comes a couple of months before Target Corp.’s spring launch of its stores in Canada. 

Walmart’s store count in Canada will increase by nine units during the coming fiscal year following an exceptional rate of growth in 2012.