Real Estate Roundup: January update

2/5/2025

Welcome to Real Estate Roundup, Chain Store Age’s new monthly series highlighting the top news in the commercial real estate industry.

Here are some of the biggest real estate news stories from January (starting with the most recent).

Report: Rents are stabilizing, and retail expansion continues apace After a turbulent few years following the COVID-19 pandemic, retail rent growth has stabilized, according to data from Buxton. Rents grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in 2024, down from a peak of 5% in 2022.
Countertrends: 70-year-old retail real estate operator sets construction record in 2024 North Plainfield, N.J.-based Levin Management Company, which manages 16 million sq. ft. of properties in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Virginia, implemented $78 million worth of redevelopment projects in 2024. It was the biggest building year in the company’s 70-year history.
Labor shortage to continue impacting construction in 2025 A new forecast from Associated Builders and Contractors found that approximately 439,000 net new jobs are needed this year to keep up with construction demand. In 2026, the industry will need to bring in 499,000 new workers.
Survey: Department store leaders eye store expansion in 2025 A new survey from B2B wholesale platform NuOrder by Lightspeed, which revealed that more than six-in-10 (62%) high-level retail directors said they plan to open new storefronts in the next 12 months. Forty percent said they planned to expand online marketplace operations.
CoStar: Service-based brands will be biggest leasers of real estate space in 2025 In its January topline summary, CoStar reported that foodservice tenants accounted for more than 20% of leasing activity during the first 11 months of 2024. During the same period, fitness brands snapped up 12% of leases, and health care and education tenants grabbed 6%.

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Kohl’s closing 27 stores and a fulfillment center — here’s where The department store retailer, which operates more than 1,150 locations nationwide, said it plans to close 27 underperforming stores by April 2025. It also will shutter its e-commerce fulfillment center in San Bernardino, Calif. when the lease on the facility expires in May.
Report: Barnes & Noble to open 60 stores in 2025 Barnes & Noble is planning to open about 60 stores in the United States this year, according to a report by the Financial Times. The book giant opened 57 stores in the U.S. last year.
Placer.ai: Indoor malls, open-air centers see visits rise in 2024 According to retail traffic firm Placer.ai’s Mall Index for December, overall visits in 2024 to indoor malls and open-air shopping centers exceeded 2023 levels with year-over-year increases of 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively. Foot traffic to outlet malls, which tend to attract lower-income shoppers, remained essentially flat compared to 2023 (-0.4%).
Mall re-maker Pacific Retail spent $400 million on buys and redevelopments in 2024 The California-based real estate firm spent hundreds of millions last year on various projects, including putting National Hockey League practice facility at The Shops at South Town in Sandy, Utah.
Done Deal: Big Lots closes sale to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners The closeout retailer said that it has successfully closed its sale agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners that will enable Variety Wholesalers to acquire between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores and up to two distribution centers. Variety plans to operate the stores under the Big Lots brand.
A&G to auction 695 Party City store leases in early February A&G Real Estate Partners said it will auction 695 Party City store leases as the nearly 40-year-old retailer begins to wind down operations and hold going-out-of-business sales at its stores following bankruptcy.