Fast Casual Restaurant

Woodbridge, N.J. -- Fameco Real Estate said that Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries has signed its first lease in New Jersey at Summit Plaza in Hackensack. 

The fast-casual restaurant will open a 2,684-sq.-ft. unit at the Stop N Shop-anchored center and said it is embarking on an aggressive franchised store rollout program with plans to grow to 200 restaurants in the next five years.

Site selection criteria include 1,700-2,500 sq. ft., inline, end cap or freestanding space, and a daytime population of 10,000 within one mile.

Dallas -- Real estate investment firm The Cogent Group said Thursday it has acquired 12 convenience stores & gas stations in the Charlottesville, Va. market.

The properties are leased to Charlottesville-based Virginia Oil Co. and feature food partnerships with McDonald’s, Blimpie and Dairy Queen.

Cogent’s real estate purchase was part of a simultaneous transaction among The Cogent Group, VPS Convenience Store Group and Virginia Oil Co.

Loveland, Colo. — McWhinney Enterprises announced that its Marketplace at Centerra power center in Loveland, Colo., will see the addition of Menchie’s and Buffalo Wild Wings this year.

Menchie’s is slated to open a new frozen yogurt shop at the end of May, and Buffalo Wild Wings has begun remodeling a former Black Eye Pea restaurant space with an anticipated opening date of August. 

Eden Prairie, Minn. — McAlister’s Corp., a quick-casual restaurant chain with more than McAlister’s Deli locations across the United States, has chosen WAND Corp. to provide an enterprise level digital menu board solution for all McAlister’s Deli corporate and franchise digital sites. The project promises to be one of the largest U.S. deployments of digital menu boards to date.

Milford, Conn. -- Subway Restaurants said Friday that more than 2,000 franchisees are actively searching for locations slated for 2011 openings.

In order to reach its development goals, the chain said that a contingent of Subway representatives will be manning the brand’s booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon convention, May 23 to 25, in Las Vegas.

Rochester Hills, Mich. -- Birmingham, Mich.-based Robert B. Aikens & Associates LLC announced the addition of two new tenants, Portrait Innovations and Flat Top Grill, to its Village of Rochester Hills lifestyle center project in Rochester Hills, Mich.  

The Village of Rochester Hills Portrait Innovations location, which opened May 10th, is the company’s eighth store in Michigan.  Flat Top Grill will replace Baja Fresh as one of the center’s nine eating establishments. 

Voorhees, N.J. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced that Just Sports Collectibles has opened at Voorhees Town Center, in Voorhees, N.J.

The new store is the retailer’s second location – its first in a mall – and features more square footage and an expanded product line.

Houston -- Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers said it has leased space to two new restaurants in Houston at Fort Bend Center.

Baskin Robbins has leased 1,280 sq. ft., and The Fish Place has leased 1,380 sq. ft. of space. Both restaurants are slated to open in July.

The 97,000-sq.-ft. shopping center is anchored by Kroger alongside national retailers such as LA Fitness, Starbucks, Wendy’s, and Cato.
 

New York City -- Winick Realty Group announced that Island Burgers & Shakes, the 15-year-old burger restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, has signed a lease for its second Manhattan location at 422 Amsterdam Avenue, between 80th and 81st Streets on the Upper West Side.

Island Burgers & Shakes will occupy 700 sq. ft. of ground-floor space, as well as a 500-sq.-ft. basement, when it opens later this year.
 

Houston -- The Vista Cos. and Vista Spring Green, Ltd. announced that McDonald's USA has signed a 56,000-sq.-ft. ground lease at The Plazas at Spring Green.

Construction on a new 4,800-sq.-ft. McDonald’s restaurant will begin in the coming weeks and is set to open in November.

The Plazas at Spring Green, a Vista Equities Group development, is located in Katy, Texas.