Real Estate

The NFL Experience has become well known as a primary attraction of Super Bowl week in the big game’s host city. Now the attraction will go permanent in a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil at 20 Times Square, a mixed-use Witkoff development that will house the 39-story Edition Hotel.  

Having brokered the sale of street-front retail real estate on 101st Street and Third Avenue in New York for $2.2 million, RKF declared the unofficial rule of placing prime retail locations below 96th Street in Manhattan to be null and void.  

Photos: Ric Kallaher   Victorinox Swiss Army has opened its doors in New York City’s Rockefeller Center.   The store, the brand’s eighth location in North America, is designed to create an immersive experience into the company’s Swiss heritage amid a modern environment that reflects the company’s commitment to quality, functionality, iconic design and innovation.  

Starbucks Corp. is growing its store portfolio on a couple of different fronts.   The company plans to open stores under a new banner, called Starbucks-Reserve only, that will have a decidedly upscale twist. The brand will sell premium, small lot reserve coffee in a store space that is about twice the size of a typical Starbucks, zachs.com reported, and feature more of a café atmosphere.   

An online retailer specializing in men’s custom-tailored suits and menswear, is set to open its third physical location.   Black Label will open a store on July 11 in downtown Chicago this summer, the Chicago Tribune reported. In addition to suits, the store will also shirts, suits, denim, chinos and outerwear.   To date, the retailer has opened a store in Boston, and one in Washington, D.C. It hopes to double its store count next year, the report said.   

Federal Realty Investment Trust announced that Dan Guglielmone will take over as its CFO and treasurer next month. A 13-year veteran of Vornado, Guglielmone is currently the company’s senior VP of acquisitions. He previously spent 10 years in investment banking with the real estate and lodging group of Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup.  

A Victorian-era psychiatric hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, that’s been out of commission for 15 years will be the site of a mixed-use community of 750 residential units and 350,000 sq. ft. of retail space.   The old Hudson River State Hospital will make way for Hudson Heritage, a $250 million redevelopment project that will preserve key structures of the classic building in an attempt to create a thriving new community on the long-abandoned 156 acres.  

Durham, North Carolina-based conglomerate The Guess Corp. is seeking to acquire at least 1,000 U.S. convenience store/ gas station units in the next 12 months.   Working through a subsidiary, the company is looking to acquire an average of 100 branded and unbranded units per month. Upon completion of the purchases, Guess Corp. intends to re-brand and renovate the properties with innovative and sleek designs and provide enhanced CRM technology. The company has invited brokers to provide buyer representation with higher commissions.

As their merger enters the home stretch, Delhaize Group and Ahold have reached agreements with buyers to divest 86 U.S. stores.   The two international companies announced their intent to combine forces back in June 20115. The merger is set for completion at the end of July, pending final approval by the Federal Trade Commission.  

The $11 billion purchase of Belgium-based supermarket operator Delhaize Group by Netherlands-based grocery conglomerate Ahold is coming closer.   The two companies both announced they expect the deal, approved by the shareholders of both companies in March 2016, to go through before the end of July 2016, subject to regulatory approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).