Real Estate

New York — RKF has helped arrange the sale of a 12,250-sq.-ft. property on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at 1151 Third Avenue for $18 million.

RKF Investment Sales & Advisory Services represented the buyer, 1151 Third Avenue LLC, in the transaction. HelmleySpear represented the seller, 201 East 67th Street. The transaction closed in late October.

San Antonio, Texas — The Retail Connection has brought retail development veteran David Berndt on board to extend the company’s tenant driven retail development capacity. Berndt will join as Development Partner of The Retail Connection | Connected Development Services. In that role, he will lead the company’s development platform in Central and South Texas.

The Retail Connection is expanding its capabilities across the board in Central and South Texas, adding senior brokerage leaders too.

Tucson, Ariz. — Big-box retail space in Tucson, Ariz., has been leasing up, with the highest demand focused in core regional mall hubs. Big-box spaces in peripheral areas of the city remain vacant.

In the Park Place Mall area, for instance, big box properties are nearly fully leased, with some saying the area is ripe for redevelopment to accommodate future demand.

Snellville, Ga. — Sprouts Farmers Market has signed a lease to occupy 26,000 sq. ft. in The Shoppes at Webb Gin in Snellville, Ga., an affluent suburb of Atlanta. This will be among the first Sprouts locations east of the Mississippi. Construction has begun on the store, which is slated to open this summer.

Tampa, Fla. — Burger 21, a new concept from The Melting Pot Restaurants, has announced the opening of its first restaurant in Virginia. To be located in Ashburn, the restaurant, which is approximately 3,200 sq. ft., will be one of four units planned for the Greater Washington, D.C., area.

Currently, Burger 21 has 11 restaurants open and 17 franchised locations in development across the U.S. Plans call for a minimum of 15 additional restaurants in the Greater Washington, D.C., area.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of two centers on behalf of Retail Properties of America.
 
First, Phillips Edison & Company purchased the 134,229-sq.-ft. Duck Creek Plaza in Bettendorf, Iowa, for $19.7 million. Schnucks and Marshalls anchor Duck Creek Plaza, and Home Depot serves as a shadow anchor. Mid-America Real Estate Corp. in cooperation with Mid-America Real Estate — Iowa LLC brokered the transaction exclusively on behalf of RPAI.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Choice Pet Supply and H&R Block have signed long-term leases at the Mayfair Shopping Center in Commack, N.Y., according to Levin Management, Mayfair Shopping Center’s leasing representative.

Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate Inc. represented Choice Pet Supply, and Reinhardt, Becker, ford & Associates LLC represented H&R Block.

New York -- Eminence Capital, a 4.9% stakeholder in Jos. A. Bank and a 10% shareholder in Men’s Wearhouse, said it supports Men's Wearhouse's proposed acquisition of the company and demanded that Jos. A. Bank's board sit down and engage in "meaningful, good faith negotiations."

Efforts to merge the two retailers have dragged on for months, with each chain having their offers to acquire the other rejected.

New York -- In a hugely attended address kicking off the National Retail Federation’s 2014 “Big Show” at Javits Center in New York City, shopping center developer Rick Caruso challenged attendees – most of them retailers from the technology side of their companies – to remember the “human” side of retail.

Last year, Cedar Realty Trust shook off the last vestiges of its recession. Upon taking the reins of Cedar, new president and CEO Bruce Schanzer set in motion a short-term strategic plan in third quarter 2011. The plan was to sell nearly half of the company’s 140 properties owned in 2011 and streamline its property-type and geographic focus, while reducing leverage over the following two years. While the results for 2013 are being tallied now, performance during the first three quarters suggest a very good year of solid results.