REAL ESTATE

Chicago -- Torrid, the edgy plus-sized apparel division of Hot Topic, will open a flagship on State Street in Chicago, on April 8. It’s part of 60 stores the retailer is planning to open across the country this year.

The 3,000-sq.-ft. store, located in The Loop, Chicago's historic shopping district, will be Torrid's tenth store in the Windy City.

New Orleans -- Stirling Properties has completed the development financing and will soon launch construction on the Offices at Mid-City Market, a 54,000-sq.-ft., mixed-use complex in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.

The Offices at Mid-City Market will feature approximately 31,000 sq. ft. of office space along with 9,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space. The building design will include parking, additional green space and water management. Prior to closing the construction loan, the building was nearly 50% pre-leased.

By Dan Goldman, Kurt Salmon

Just like bell-bottoms and leg warmers, mom-and-pop retailers are back. Not long ago, it seemed like they would be permanently relegated to some dusty attic space, a relic fighting for relevancy.

Big-box stores put them there. Between 1992 and 2014, the share of U.S. retail stores owned by companies with fewer than 500 employees fell 13%.i That’s because big boxes promised lower prices and a wider assortment, points brought home by large mass market advertising campaigns.

New York -- The death of the mall has been highly exaggerated, according to data released Monday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Among the highlights: Shopping center occupancy rates were 92.7% at the end of 2014, the highest level since second quarter 2008, according to data released Monday. Occupancy was even higher for the mall segment (combined super-regional and regional malls), at 94.2% at the end of 2014, the highest since the end of 1987.   

San Juan -- The Mall of San Juan, the first upscale shopping center in Puerto Rico, officially opened its doors on March 26. The 650,000-sq.-ft. shopping center, developed through a partnership between Taubman and New Century Development, has a retail line-up includes the Caribbean's only Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Sixty percent of the tenants are unique to the market.

New York -- RKF has arranged a 1,560-sq.-ft. lease with international high-end fashion retailer IRO at 241 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side in New York City. This will be the second Manhattan store for the French apparel brand, known for its mixing of luxury fabrics with casual street style.

The transaction was arranged by RKF’s executive VP Joshua Strauss and associate Taryn Talmadge, who represented IRO, while the building ownership was represented by RKF executive VP Ariel Schuster and managing director Brandon Eisenman.

Boston -- Cushman & Wakefield announced the sale of South Cape Village in Mashpee, Massachusetts, to Dividend Capital. The Cushman & Wakefield team oversaw the $35.45 million transaction of the Roche Brothers-anchored lifestyle center on behalf of Mashpee Investors, LLC.    

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Online teen fave Nasty Gal is opening its second brick-and-mortar location on March 27, on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California.