REAL ESTATE

Gaithersburg, Md. -- Retail Properties of America, Inc. announced GreatGatherings a 16,825 sq. ft. store will join Downtown Crown located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. RPAI acquired Downtown Crown in January 2015 with a lease rate of 77.5%, the centers lease rate is now 88.7%.

The wait is finally over—and with it, the competition between Microsoft and Apple takes a closer turn. Microsoft will take the wraps off its Manhattan flagship, on Oct. 26. The store is located on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, just a few short blocks from Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship with its glass cube entry.

Snellville, Ga. -- Olshan Properties announced two new retail tenants have signed leases at The Shoppes at Webb Gin in Snellville, Georgia. Orangetheory Fitness opened earlier this month and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop announced plans to open in early fall at the center.

Location: Kansas City, Missouri

Size: Nine city blocks, 600,000 sq. ft.

Owner: The Cordish Companies

Key Tenants: Jos. A. Bank, Zafar Salon, Spa & Boutique, Envolve Boutique, The Garment District KC, Cosentino’s Downtown Market, Yard House, Alamo Drafthouse, Howl at the Moon and more

Nordstrom plans to relocate its Nordstrom Rack store from 280 Metro Center to the redeveloped Serramonte Center in Daly City, California.

The approximately 40,000-sq.ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2017. The redeveloped property is owned by Equity One.

Nordstrom will join fellow anchors Target, JC Penney, Macy's and Dick's Sporting Goods. The new location is just across Highway 280 from the current Nordstrom Rack.

Englewood Construction has started working on three new ground-up retail projects.

The national general contractor is building a Hobby Lobby in Beavercreek, Ohio; a PetSmart in Taylor, Michigan; and a Goodwill in Monroe, Connecticut.

Englewood recently broke ground on a 55,000-sq.-ft. ground-up Hobby Lobby store in Beavercreek, Ohio. Slated for completion by the end of January 2016, the project will use tilt-up construction of masonry embossed panels. Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Robert Michael Hughes is the project architect.

Nordstrom will debut several new features when it opens on October 2 in Minnetonka, Minn., including “girlfriend” fitting rooms, which offer more space so that friends can try items on in the same room, and a beauty format that allows customers to select items from store shelves themselves, reports the Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Jounal.

For store photos, click here.

Chick-fil-A is taking on the Big Apple—in a green way.

The fast-casual eatery will open a three-story 5,000-sq.-ft. restaurant, its largest location yet, on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the corner of West 37th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan’s Garment District.

The restaurant is built to LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) specifications,and incudes water and energy efficiency features, air quality control and waste diversion efforts, among other initiatives.