Hospitality

Miami — Executive chef and owner Cindy Hutson plans to open a new restaurant concept called Zest in the 30,000-sq.-ft. plaza of Miami’s 1.2-million-sq.-ft. Southeast Financial Center office building. It will be her second restaurant brand following the well-regarded Ortanique, which has locations in Miami, and the Cayman Islands.

Woodland Hills, Calif. — Westfield has unveiled the layout, landscaping and décor plans for Westfield Topanga’s outdoor extension, The Village at Westfield Topanga.

Construction has commenced, and the center is slated to open in the fall of 2015.

Fort Worth, Texas — Founders Properties has hired Trademark Property Co. to handle management, marketing, accounting and construction for Burr Ridge Village Center, a 232,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use lifestyle center in Burr Ridge, Illinois.

Located 15 miles west of Chicago, the center forms a downtown for the affluent Burr Ridge community. It includes 195,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurants, 37,000 sq. ft. of office and 196 luxury residential units.

Chicago - Renewed consumer spending is in line with pre-recession trends and consumer optimism is higher than it's been in years. In 2013, Mintel estimates that personal consumption expenditures on consumer goods reached $10 trillion for the first time.

Tarrytown, N.Y. — DLC Management Corp. has acquired The Court at Deptford in Deptford, New Jersey. DLC plans to redevelop the 361,000-sq.-ft. center located next to the Deptford Mall.

Tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Party City, Pier 1 and Olive Garden.

Shopping centers in the well-occupied trade area averages occupancy rates of 95%, thanks to a population of 210,985 with an average annual income of $77,600.

Waban, Mass. – Amazon.com took second place overall and was the highest-ranked retailer in the 2014 Temkin Customer Service Ratings, which rates 233 companies across 19 industries with 10,000 U.S. consumers. Other retailers in the top 12 include Chick-fil-A, Publix, H-E-B, Starbucks, Costco, QVC, and Trader Joe's.

Miami – Burger King Corp. is preparing a new marketing slogan, “Be Your Way.” The new slogan, which appeared in an online video in April 2014, will be featured in a TV ad for the first time on May 26.

Kansas City, Mo. - Healthy options are becoming increasingly important to customers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs). These latest trends are detailed in a new white paper, "QSRs and America's Changing Tastes," by Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS) FoodThink.

Key takeaways from this white paper by SHS FoodThink that hint at a desire for more from QSRs:

• Forty-eight percent of consumers want more opportunities to customize orders.

• Fifty-one percent want QSRs to give them more options for sides.