Real Estate

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.

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.

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.

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.

The downsizing continues at Sears Holding Corp.

The troubled retailer is closing what it described as a “very small percentage” of its overall number of Kmart and Sears stores across the country.

"Every year we evaluate our store portfolio and make changes based on leases or stores with poor performance," company spokesman Howard Riefs said in a Reuters report.

The exact number of stores to be shuttered has not been disclosed. But Reifs also said Kmart would account for the majority of the closures.

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.

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.

Baton Rouge -- JLL’s Capital Markets experts announced the firm has closed the sale of Hammond Aire Plaza located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on behalf of Kimco Realty. The asset was purchased by a joint venture partnership between DRA Advisors and Viking Partners.

Managing director Margaret Caldwell, VP Diane Roberts and associate Eric Spencer led the JLL team on the transaction.