Restaurant

Chipotle Mexican Grill is thinking about getting into the burger business.

The fast-casual giant, which is still struggling to recover financially from food-safety problems that surfaced last summer, filed a trademark application for "Better Burger" as part of a business diversification move to open a burger restaurant chain.

In a history-making move that would have a direct impact on the retail industry and food service sector, the state of California has moved closer to raising the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.

Sunrise, Fla. -- Metropica Holdings and KGH International Development announced that construction is on track for the retail vertical portion to begin this summer and is underway on the residential component for Metropica, located in Sunrise, Florida. Metropica is a transit-oriented mixed-use complex encompassing 65 acres and more than 4 million sq. ft. of retail, world-class residential, commercial, hotel, conference and public spaces.

Sayreville, N.J. -- O’Neill Properties Group announced that it has completed brownfield remediation project at the 40-acre lagoon at The Pointe located in Sayreville, New Jersey. The Pointe is the largest mixed-use brownfield redevelopment ever undertaken in the Northeast with the project costs of $2.2 billion. Vertical construction will begin in spring 2016 on a 200,000-sq. ft. anchor tenant Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, the largest Bass Pro in the country outside of its original flagship operation.

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, has promoted five new VPs to its management team.

Sherrill Kaplan was promoted to VP, digital marketing & innovation for Dunkin' Donuts U.S. Kaplan joined Dunkin' Brands nearly five years ago and has played a lead role in the development and execution of the retailer’s digital strategy and the DD Perks rewards program.

Fenton Mo. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team brokered the sale of Fenton Commons located in Fenton, Missouri. Colorado based GDA Real Estate acquired the 82,242-sq.-ft. property for $15 million.

Fenton Commons is anchored by Best Buy, Old Navy and Barnes & Noble with Chili’s and Bank of America.

Starbucks Corp. is extending its payment platform to extend its reward program beyond its own stores.

The coffee giant announced at its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday that it will launch the Starbucks Rewards Prepaid Card from Chase by the end of this year.

Tacoma, Wash. -- Vestar announced that it has acquired James Center located in Tacoma, Washington, for $31.4 million.

The 140,240 sq. ft. center is located directly across from Tacoma Community College, which enrolls nearly 14,000 students per year. James Center is anchored by Fred Meyer and Rite, as well as feature tenants: Starbucks, Subway, Verizon, Menchie’s, U.S. Bank, IHOP, FedEx Kinko’s and Ivar’s.