Real Estate

Dallas -- X Team International announced that partner Venture Commercial Real Estate completed the sale of two properties in Richardson, Texas and Waco, Texas, representing more than 150,000 sq. ft. of retail space.   

New York City -- Chelsea Bagel, operating on West 14th Street for the past five years, has leased its second Manhattan location.  

Old Bridge, N.J. -- An improved picture in both ‘big-box’ and smaller store spaces combined to push the retail vacancy rate along central New Jersey’s major shopping corridors to a six-year low of 7.6% from 9.8% in 2013, according to the latest study by R.J. Brunelli & Co. Looking back over the past 10 years, the 2014 figure compared with the high of 10.5% in 2011 and low of 3.4% in 2006.  

By Ahsin Rasheed      

Atlanta -- Global Franchise Group, the brand management company and franchisor behind Great American Cookies, Pretzelmaker, Marble Slab Creamery,  MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery and Hot Dog on a Stick, has hired Andrew Kmiec as VP of Real Estate. Kmiec will be responsible for directing GFG’s real estate team in the areas of strategic site selection, lease negotiation and store design for franchisees and corporate owned locations.  

Lexington, Ky. --CBL & Associates Properties announced the opening of the expansion at Fayette Mall in Lexington, Ky. Designed to significantly enhance the offerings at the shopping center, the redevelopment of the former Sears location included expanding the mall entrance to create 115,000 sq. ft. of new retail space for a mix of fashion stores, home furnishings and fine dining options in the heart of the shopping center.

Seattle -- Starbucks’ new outpost in the Fremont section of Seattle fits right in with the artsy neighborhood. The company moved from a smaller store in the area to a spacious two-level corner site, complete with a mezzanine.    

Covington, La. -- Stirling Properties’ Beezie Landry, senior sales and leasing executive, closed on the sale of three investment properties, totaling over $15 million. In each of these transactions, Landry represented the Seller.   The CVS property on Greenwell Springs Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a 13,824-sq.-ft. building purchased by a private New York- based investor for $4.75 million.