Real Estate

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Forge Real Estate Partners III, co-sponsored by the Sembler Company and Forge Capital, has formed a joint venture with East Coast Acquisitions and acquired Tarrymore Square in North Raleigh, N.C.

Tarrymore Square is a 256,805-sq.-ft. shopping center with a 65% occupancy rate. Existing tenants include Walgreens, Rugged Warehouse, Surplus Warehouse, Rainbow Fashions, Rent-A-Center and Miller-Motte Technical College.

New York -- Chute Gerdeman, a global strategic brand and design firm, has opened an office in New York City.

“Our clients increasingly have sought our presence in New York,” said Chute Gerdeman chairman Denny Gerdeman. “As our business and client base have grown and evolved, having a base in this retail hub became a clear necessity.”

Seattle – Nordstrom plans to open a Nordstrom Rack store at Harbison Court in Columbia, S.C., and another at West Towne Crossing in West Towne, Wis. The approximately 34,000-sq.-ft. Columbia store and 30,750-sq.-ft. West Towne store are both scheduled to open in fall 2014.

When it opens, the Harbison Court Nordstrom Rack will be the company's second location in South Carolina, following the recently announced location in Greenville that will also open in fall 2014.

Nordstrom plans to open its third fulfillment center at Conewago Industrial Park in Elizabethtown, Pa., in summer 2015. The approximately 672,000-sq.-ft. building, with an additional 470,000-sq.-ft. mezzanine, will enable faster delivery for Nordstrom.com, Nordstrom mobile app and Nordstrom catalog orders.

Baton Rouge, La. — Commercial Property Realty Trust, a REIT that manages and develops property holdings of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has named Gerard “Stick” Thibodeaux VP and COO.

Thibodeaux will oversee the leasing and property management of Acadian Village Shopping Center in Baton Rouge, La., and the retail components of two traditional neighborhood developments — American in Zachary, La., and 5401 North in Raleigh, N.C.

In its PizzaRev case study series, CSA Online offers an insider’s look at the conception, initial rollout and growth of the southern Calif.-based fast-casual concept PizzaRev. Likened to “the Chipotle of pizza,” this innovative chain lets customers choose from an artisanal array of toppings to craft their own pizzas very quickly in a high-end stone hearth oven.

Warren, Mich. — Art Van Furniture has announced a seventh Chicagoland location in Downers Grove. For the new store, slated to open in January of 2015, the retailer plans to renovate a two story 106,000-sq.-ft. former Home Depot Expo Center on Butterfield Road off of Interstate 88.

Art Van Furniture will open its sixth Chicagoland location in Woodridge-Bolingbrook in April. Last year, the retailer rolled out five new stores in the region — in Logan Square, Bedford Park, Orland Park, Batavia and Merrillville.

New York -- Mexico's Grupo Gigante expects to raise up to 4.954 billion pesos ($374.14 million) in its initial public offering of Office Depot de Mexico shares, Reuters reported.

The company plans to sell up to 291 million shares, local filings revealed.

The listing is provisionally set to price on Feb. 5, the report said.

In June, Grupo Gigante, acquired the 50% stake in the office supplies chain that it did not already own.