Hospitality

Washington, D.C. — Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. and The Peterson Cos. announced that they have entered into a joint venture agreement to develop, manage and lease Tanger Outlets at National Harbor.

Final attendance numbers aren’t available yet, and while RECon 2011 may not have been the really, really big show it was in 2007, the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual Las Vegas convention was clearly a big event.

Pre-recession, the show attracted in excess of 50,000 retailers, retail service providers and shopping center executives to view the latest and greatest projects coming out of the ground. This year’s May 23 to 25 iteration didn’t pull 50k, but best guesses put attendance at over 30,000. 

WASHINGTON — An Associated Press/GfK poll released Friday determined that rising gas prices will cause “serious” hardship for as much as 41% of Americans.

Almost 3-in-4 adults acknowledged that $4 per gallon or more at the pump will at least cause some hardship.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Chicago-based General Growth Properties announced that Hulen Mall, in Fort Worth, Texas, will undergo a major interior facelift and renovation beginning Monday, May 23.  

Los Angeles -- Samuels & Co. Inc. said it has recently completed five transactions for Merlin Entertainments Group, the second largest location-based entertainment company in the world which develops, owns and operates outdoor theme parks and indoor attractions.  

Cleveland, Ohio --Forest City Enterprises, Inc., announced the creation of a new leadership position to support the company’s growing presence in the Texas real estate market.  

Effective immediately, Brian Ratner has been promoted to president of Forest City Texas and will lead the company’s Texas operations from its regional office in Dallas.    

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. 

Frisco, Texas -- The City of Frisco executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Forest City Development and its partner, Ernest Mahard Jr. to develop a 320-acre mixed-use development on the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Highway 380. 

Bounded by Virginia Parkway and County Road 26, this development will encompass retail, residential, office, entertainment, hospitality, municipal parks and services.