Microsoft

CBL is getting ready to open its 28th Dick’s Sporting Goods store, this one at Richland Mall in Waco, Texas.   “This new store will drive significant traffic to the center and illustrates our ongoing commitment to enhancing the tenant mix at the property,” said CBL CEO Stephen Lebovitz.   Other new arrivals at Richland include H&M, PINK, and White Barn. Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret recently completed remodels. Dick’s is set to open in spring 2018.

A limited partnership has purchased the 110,359-sq.-ft. Southridge Plaza in Fontana, California for $20.7 million.   Anchored by a Rio Ranch Market, the necessity-based center is strong among Hispanic consumers in this town just east of San Bernardino. Other tenants include Rite Aid, AutoZone, McDonald’s, Subway, Waba Grill, and Cricket Wireless.  

Tavisock Development is partnering with a Google company on technology it says will “reimagine” the retail and entertainment experience at its Lake Nona Town Center in Orlando.  

Irvine Retail Properties’ flagship shopping destination, The Irvine Spectrum Center, has demolished the 140,000-sq.-ft. Macy’s that opened there in 2002 and is erecting a new building in its place to accommodate up to 20 shops, according to a report in the Orange County Register.  

As 20th Century malls give way to 21st Century mixed use centers, retail tenants need to arm themselves against giving away too much away during lease negotiations.   That’s the caution of National Retail Tenants Association director Paul Kinney, who strongly advises retailers to consider both long and the short-term implications of the leases they sign.  

Ground has been broken on Kimco’s 102-acre Dania Pointe project in the Dania Beach section of Fort Lauderdale.   Phase one of the mixed-use development will include 300,000 sq. ft. of retail, 80% of which is already leased, according to the company. Along with the requisite food and beverage establishments, TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, BrandsMart, and Ulta Beauty have signed on as tenants.  

It was 25 years ago today the Ghermezian family taught American shoppers to play.   The Ghermezians and their Triple Five development company had already set a new standard for enclosed shopping centers with their West Edmonton Mall. But on August 11, 1992, on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, they and managing agent Simon created a whole new ball game.  

As more retailers begin to adopt the Bonobos-style showroom store as their brick-and-mortar strategies, will bike garages become a new fixture in malls and shopping centers?   If so, the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands might prove the design test case. It just opened the first phase of what will be the world’s largest bike garage at the Central Train Station, a 184,000-sq.-ft. space capable of holding 12,500 bikes at full build-out.