Real Estate

Phoenix – Vestar announced the addition of Bradley Parks, director of due diligence to its team. Parks will be responsible for overseeing all due diligence activities for Vestar’s shopping center acquisition opportunities.

Over the past three years Vestar has completed over $1 billion in acquisitions throughout the western U.S. and was recently recognized as the 4th largest acquirer of shopping centers in the United States.

Plymouth Meeting, Pa. -- Metro Commercial Real Estate announced it has negotiated 10 new store openings for The Vitamin Shoppe in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Vitamin Shoppe, is a leading multichannel specialty retailer and contract manufacturer of nutritional products with 700+ stores throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

The Vitamin Shoppe Pennsylvania locations: Chadds Ford, Fairless Hills, Feasterville, Lancaster, Paoli, Philadelphia, Dickson City/Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Walmart said it will close 269 stores worldwide this year, including many of its smallest-format stores, in a move that CEO Doug McMillon characterized as being more disciplined about growth. It is one of the largest number of stores closures that Walmart has ever announced at one time.

Kneaders Bakery & Café has partnered with Buxton to support its growth initiatives as it expands into new markets.

Buxton will identify franchise territory opportunities for the Utah-based Kneaders based on customer analytics.

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Forest City Realty Trust announced that it has closed the sale of 625 Fulton Street, a development site in Brooklyn, New York. The Rabsky Group purchased the property for $158 million, of which $100 million was paid at closing with the balance due in 90 days.

Newport Beach, Calif. -- X Team International announced that partner Strategic Retail Advisors negotiated the purchase of a 104,423-sq.-ft. property at La Habra Towne Centre located in La Habra, California, on behalf of Northgate Gonzalez Markets.

La Habra Town Centre is situated on 9.2 acres and is currently home to CVS, Petco and Jack in the Box. Nelson Wheeler and Blaine Bush of SRA represented Northgate Gonzalez Markets. Jones Lang LaSalle represented the seller.

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of The Oaks of Oak Brook in Oak Brook, Illinois. Newport Capital Partners acquired the 67,143-sq. ft. property on behalf of Newport Fund II for $18.25 million.

The Oaks of Oak Brook is located at the northwest corner of Kingery Highway (Illinois Route 83) and 16th Street. The center features a tenant lineup including: Panera Bread, Athletico, Wells Fargo and Sleepy’s.

Shopping center companies will receive recognition for 2015 development, acquisition and third-party management activities, as Chain Store Age’s 27th annual “Fastest Growing” awards rank the most active shopping center owners, managers and acquirers for projects, contracts and transactions completed during last year.

The top placers will be featured in the May 2016 issue of Chain Store Age, which will be bonus-distributed to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual RECon event in Las Vegas.

Chain Store Age has launched our annual search for 10 individuals in retail real estate we call “retail stars.” All will be featured in the May 2016 issue of CSA with bonus distribution at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon event in Las Vegas!

The award recognizes people under the age of 40 who are making an impact in retail real estate – whether from the tenant (retail) or the landlord (shopping center company) side.

Sundance is gearing up for major retail expansion.

The lifestyle apparel, art and home furnishings brand, founded by Robert Redford in 1969, has long operated a successful catalog and e-commerce site, along with a handful of physical stores. But in remarks at the recent ICR investor conference, CEO Matey Erdos said the company is planning to open up to 150 locations in the coming years.