Ulta Beauty

Beachwood, Ohio — DDR announced the grand opening of Seabrook Commons, the company’s most recent ground-up development project located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, a northern suburb of the Boston MSA.

The 380,000-sq.-ft. power center is 96% leased, anchored by Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, PetSmart, Michaels, ULTA, Famous Footwear and Five Below, and features a complementary restaurant lineup that includes Panera, Outback Steakhouse and Noodles & Company.

East Peoria, Ill. -- Cullinan Properties said that Noodles & Company will be opening a new restaurant in November at the Levee District in East Peoria, Illinois.

East Peoria, Illinois — McDonald’s Restaurants of Peoria/Bloomington will join the East Peoria Levee District with the opening of a new restaurant in September.

 Local owner-operator Scott Bandy will be overseeing the construction of the restaurant, with plans to include a modern exterior and dual drive-thru lanes. Interior features include a dual-point ordering system with new split counter function, free Wi-Fi, and digital menu boards.

Newport News, Va. - Marketplace at Tech Center, a mixed-use lifestyle center Newport News, Va., will be the site of several stores and restaurants that cannot currently be found elsewhere on the Virginia Peninsula. These “first-to-market” retailers (with the exception of those that have outlet stores in Williamsburg) that have inked deals include:

• Whole Foods: 35,000-sq.-ft. of retail space
• DSW Shoe Warehouse: 18,062-sq.-ft. of retail space
• BJ’s Brewhouse: 7,400-sq.-ft. of retail space

With an 8.7% same store sales increase, the addition of 21 new stores, a burgeoning digital business and surging first quarter profits, Ulta Beauty demonstrated why it is one of the retail industry’s most compelling growth stories.

Bolingbrook, Ill. — Vanessa Wittman, senior VP and CFO of Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Google, has been appointed the Ulta Beauty board of directors and as a member of its audit committee, effective June 5, 2014, following her election at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Wittman joins the Ulta Beauty board with more than 25 years of experience in finance and technology.

Ulta Beauty has announced that Vanessa Wittman, SVP and CFO of Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility, has been appointed to its board and as a member of its audit committee.

One topic that’s been on my mind lately is the growing Hispanic market in the U.S., and what its clout and purchasing power will mean for retailers — and, subsequently, for retail real estate — in the years ahead. “Emerging” is probably too mild of a word to describe the Hispanic market — exploding might be more accurate.

Old Bridge, N.J. - R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC has recently completed a series of leases that will bring retail tenants to sites throughout New Jersey and Maryland. Dollar Tree recently signed a lease that will bring its Deal$ concept to an 11,400-sq.-ft. space in downtown Elizabeth, New Jersey. R.J. Brunelli serves as the retailer's exclusive real estate representative for all of New Jersey.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has announced four leases totaling 29,099 sq. ft. of retail space in the Hampton roads area of Virginia.

PetSmart has taken 14,286 sq. ft. at Peninsula town Center in Hampton. As the chain’s exclusive representative in Virginia, the Richmond office of DRE represented PetSmart in the negotiations.

Ulta has signed a lease for 10,500 sq. ft. in Crossways Shopping Center in Chesapeake. DRE’s Virginia Beach office represented the landlord, JLP-Chesapeake in the transaction.