Hospitality

Louisville, Ky. -- GBT Realty Corp., a national real estate development company based in Brentwood, Tenn., is expanding tenant lineups at two Louisville-based regional shopping centers totaling nearly 500,000-sq.-ft. to over 90% leased. Only a combined 23,500-sq.-ft. of retail space remains at Jefferson Commons and at Middletown Commons with the first tenants scheduled to be open in November. Construction is currently underway.  

New York -- Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s retail team has been retained by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to lead the leasing of Grand Central Terminal.   

Bethesda, Md. -- Washington Property Company (WPC) is bringing the True Food Kitchen restaurant to its latest upscale apartment development, Solaire Bethesda. Upon opening in 2016, Solaire Bethesda’s street-level retail space will be occupied by True Food Kitchen.  

The innovative online shopping destination Gilt.com named Clay Cowan chief marketing officer to oversee global strategy, management, and revenue, for all digital channels.

Cowan joins Gilt.com from Starwood Hotels and Resorts global digital business team where he ran digital experiences for nine global brands and Starwood's SPG loyalty program in multiple languages and countries around the world. 

Las Vegas -- Today’s convenience stores face growing pressure to evolve amid the ramped-up expectations of global consumers, according to remarks made by Joseph Bona, president of branded environments at brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX, and Dan Munford, managing firector of U.K.-based Insight, convenience and petroleum retail strategy specialists, at the National Association of Convenience Stores’ annual convention in Las Vegas.  

Seattle – Starbucks Coffee Co. is increasing the pay and relaxing the dress code of its U.S. store employees to allow for tattoos and other forms of self-expression to show.  

Boston -- Powerhouse Dynamics, creator of the SiteSage enterprise energy and asset management system, is beefing up its mobile app with a series of control and reporting enhancements to provide facility  managers with complete facility energy and equipment operations management.   

Bay Shore, N.Y. -- MIA Concessions has deployed advanged digital signage in Miami International Airport’s (MIA)) South Terminal in the form of bilingual digital passenger assistants.   The technology, from Tensator, provides passengers with high-tech virtual shopping consultants and also serves as an advertising vehicle for shops and restaurants to reach high multi-lingual air travelers to Miami.