Restaurant

Elmhurst, N.Y. --  Tom Rettaliata and Brian Schuster of Ripco Real Estate represented Darden Concepts and Ignite Restaurants in the lease of the site located between Queens Center Mall and the Long Island Expressway (I-495) in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. Olive Garden (8,297 sq. ft.), Longhorn Steakhouse (8,000 sq. ft.), and Joe’s Crab Shack (8,000 sq. ft.) now occupy a previously vacant location at the intersections of 92nd Street and 59th Avenue. All three restaurants face Queens Center.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin' Donuts has signed the largest development agreement in the company's history with the goal of expanding Dunkin' Donuts in China. The retailer plans to open more than 1,400 new stores across China in the next 20 years.

Nashville, Tenn. --H.G. Hill Realty Company announced a lineup of tenants at Hill Center Acklen, the Nashville mixed-use development that includes approximately 13,000 sq. ft. of street-level restaurant and retail located at 21st Avenue South and Acklen Avenue in Hillsboro Village.

Yonkers, N.Y. -- Tom Rettaliata of Ripco Real Estate leased 13,840 sq. ft. to Darden Concepts in the Cross County Shopping Center located at 8000 Mall Walk in Yonkers, New York.

The area previously used for parking is now occupied by two freestanding restaurants: Olive Garden (7,448 sq. ft.) and Longhorn Steakhouse (6,392 sq. ft.). Olive Garden opened on October 27, 2014, and Longhorn Steakhouse opened on November 17, 2014.

The landlord, Brooks Shopping Center LLC, was represented by Guy Mercurio of Macerich.

Atlanta – New Year’s resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, and Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery are attempting to make the task even harder for their customers. On Jan. 17, the traditional day consumers give up their resolutions, the chains are offering an omnichannel "Ditch Your New Year's Resolution" promotion.

Customers can visit the Facebook page of either retailer to claim an offer, as well as visit a store to receive a buy-one-get-one-free promotion.
 

Lafayette, La. -- Ambassador Town Center, a joint venture between Stirling Properties and CBL and Associates Properties, will launch construction this month in Lafayette, Louisiana, on a 58-acre site at the corner of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road.

Washington, D.C. – Restaurant operators continued to hold a sunny outlook even as the weather turned gray in November. The Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 102.1 in November, down slightly from its October level of 102.8.

Atlanta -- The new year has brought news of a possible new data breach. Chick-fil-A acknowledged on Friday that it has received reports of potential “unusual activity” involving payment cards used at a few of its restaurants and that it was investigating whether a data breach had taken place.

“We take our obligation to protect customer information seriously, and we are working with leading IT security firms, law enforcement and our payment industry contacts to determine all of the facts,” the company said in a statement.