Real Estate

Cinemark and XD will be upgrading all 16 of its auditoriums at CooperTowne Center in Somerdale, New Jersey.    The renovated theaters will include electric-powered, oversized recliners, and movie-goers will be able to reserve them ahead of time via computer or smartphone. XD theaters feature wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling screen with enhanced JBL sound systems.  

Schostak Brothers has added six multi-tenant properties to its “Shadow Walmart” portfolio of retail space adjoining supercenters, bringing it to a total of 67. The new additions are located in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.   “In the last decade, we have pursued an aggressive growth strategy in order to assemble one of the largest Walmart Supercenter shadow-anchored shopping center portfolios in the United States,” said Schostak COO Warren Strietzel.  

Every year after the holidays the same topics seem to dominate media coverage of the retail industry. The numbers are in, who’s closing stores? Who’s going out of business? Who are this year’s casualties in the great Clicks vs. Bricks War? This focus on post-holiday attrition is part of a larger conversation about the future of retail, one often tinged by notes of panic, dire predictions, and dramatic pronouncements such as: Online retail is damaging brick-and-mortar. Malls are dead! Retailers are shuttering hundreds of stores! 

Forest City announced it has closed on the sale of Shops at Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx to Urban Edge Properties for $32 million. The seller expects to net $9.2 million in the transaction.  

An historic department store building that closed its doors and has been empty for 30 years — long enough for a tree to start growing inside it — has been given a brand new lease on life.  

Following its success in renovating another center in the Florida town of Jupiter, Elion Partners had embarked on a renovation of Jupiter Reserve, which will be re-christened as Pennock Square.   Plans for the 43,172-sq.-ft. center include a cosmetic makeover to a more contemporary look, new signage, and parking and landscaping upgrades.    Elion’s re-do of the nearby Fresh Market Village inspired the effort.  

DDR has purchased a new Chicago center anchored by a Mariano’s supermarket for $81 million. The 137,618-sq.-ft. property is located on 3030 North Broadway in the Lakeview section of town.   XSport Fitness, PNC Bank, and Starbucks are tenants in the center along with Mariano’s, a chain Chicagoland founded by former Dominick’s deli worker Bob Mariano, who grew it to nearly 48 stores. The chain is now owned by Kroger.  

Amazon is getting ready to break ground on yet another new fulfillment center — its first in Colorado.    The one million-sq.-ft. facility being constructed in Aurora is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs. Associates at the Aurora warehouse will pick, pack and ship larger customer items, such as sports equipment, musical instruments and furniture.