Real Estate Roundup: March update
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 March (starting with the most recent).
- Batteries Plus to open first stores in Hawaii The specialty battery retailer will soon make its debut in Hawaii. Local entrepreneur Pierre Parranto has signed on to open four Batteries Plus stores across Hawaii's four largest islands (Hawaii, Mau, O’ahu, Kaua’i), starting with a location in Honolulu on Oahu.
- Gazit Horizons buys Fort Lauderdale’s Galt Ocean Marketplace Gazit Horizons, a subsidiary of G City Ltd. that is expanding its holdings in the United States, has snapped-up a high-traffic center on a stretch of posh waterfront in Fort Lauderdale. The 105,589-sq.-ft. Galt Ocean Marketplace, located on Route A1A in a prime barrier island location in the Galt Ocean Mile neighborhood, sold for $35.4 million.
- Available retail space increases for first time in two years Commercial real estate data firm CoStar’s newest report reveals that store closures more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, pushing the retail space availability rate to 4.8%. This marks the most retail space available for lease than at any point in the past two years.
- Edikted expanding in Simon malls The digitally-native, Gen Z-centric fashion brand is opening stores at five Simon centers across the country in 2025, more than doubling its brick-and-mortar presence. Founded in 2020 and heavily influenced by the latest styles, Edikted has grown rapidly through largely organic promotion on social media platforms such as TikTok.
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- Queens Center welcomes new tenants Queens Center, the four-story enclosed mall located in Elmhurst, N.Y., is touting eight new tenant openings, including eateries, apparel retailers, and more. Recent openings include San Wei, Psycho Bunny, Digiso, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Poke Island, Burlington, Primark, and H&M.
- Easton Gateway adds new restaurant, apparel tenants Five new tenants have been added to the roster at Columbus’ Easton Gateway, with three now open and two set to open soon. Located across the street from Easton Town Center, Gateway, which opened in 2014, has more than 650,000 sq. ft. of retail space for guests to explore.
- Trademark hires new VP to expand its third-party management business Trademark Property Group has added a new key player to its asset management team. Peter Cavazos will share the title of VP of asset management with Kaylie Horner at the Fort Worth-based company and be responsible for driving budget initiatives, optimizing property financial and operational goals, and prioritizing value creation for Trademark’s partners and investors.
- Datex: Retail real estate occupancy costs hit a six-year high in 2024 Rent and occupancy costs (rents plus triple nets divided by reported sales) have reached six-year highs, according to a “2025 Market Outlook Report” from Datex Property Solutions. The national average occupancy cost for retail brands rose to 7.73% last year, a nearly two-percentage point increase over 2023’s average of 5.83%.
- Ocean State Job Lot acquires 15 Big Lots leases; to open 22 new stores this year Ocean State Job Lot, which operates 159 stores across the Northeast, has acquired 15 Big Lots locations in eight states following the chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The company plans to open up to 22 new stores this year, including the 15 former Big Lots locations and five to seven additional locations, and will enter two new states, Maryland and Delaware.
- CBRE: Available anchor space in Georgia rose by 57% in 2024 Available anchor space rose by a staggering 57% in The Peach State in 2024, according to CBRE. The study found that 6.8 million sq. ft. was available at the end of last year, up from 4.3 million sq. ft. in 2023. More than 150 anchor spaces were vacant.
- Nearly 800 Joann store leases, five distribution centers set for auction GA Group and A&G Real Estate Partners announced plans to auction 790 Joann store leases and five distribution centers in conjunction with the wind-down of operations at Joann. The 82-year-old fabric and crafts retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2025.
- Qdoba exceeds 500 stores in development; to grow in Northeast, Midwest The fast-casual Mexican chain has added 33 new locations to its development pipeline, bringing the total number of restaurant commitments to more than 500. Through several major franchise agreements, Qdoba will soon grow its footprint in the Northeast, Midwest and beyond.
- Alo Yoga takes ‘sanctuary’ at Mall of America The 6,000-sq.-ft. Alo Yoga space will be its second “sanctuary” (what Alo calls its 100-plus stores) in Minnesota. The brand combines fashion with fitness, blending loungewear, footwear, and wellness products with yoga studios.
- Pop Mart to open at upscale Connecticut mall The Asian toy and collectibles brand opened its newest store in Norwalk, Conn. on March 8 at The SoNo Collection, an upscale shopping center. The new location marked Pop Mart’s first in the state and 23rd location in the United States.
