REAL ESTATE

Cypress Equities breaks ground on new park project
Spanish Fort, Ala. -- Dallas-based Cypress Equities has officially broken ground on a 3.5-acre park project, at Spanish Fort Town Center, in Spanish Fort, Alabama. The park is part of a major site enhancement plan, which also comprises upgraded building facades, a freshly designed sign package, along with new store and restaurant offerings.
Sembler promotes Beyer to lead development
St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Josh Beyer, P.E., has been promoted to senior VP of Development at The Sembler Company, overseeing all shopping center development in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and the southeastern U.S.

Beyer has been with the company for 12 years and, in that time, has been involved with more than 1.5 million sq. ft. of development, including Colony Plaza (The Villages, Florida), Park Street Retail Center (St. Petersburg, Florida) and Cross Creek Village (St. Cloud, Florida).

RPAI acquires the retail portion of Downtown Crown

Washington, D.C. -- Retail Properties of America, Inc., has it closed on its $162.8-million acquisition of the retail portion of Downtown Crown, a class A mixed-use project located in Gaithersburg, Maryland (Washington, D.C. MSA). RPAI acquired the project from The JBG Companies and JBGR Retail.
Target to shutter Canada business

Minneapolis – Target is calling its quits in Canada. The retailer said is closing down its troubled Target Canada business. The chain previously indicated it would review its Canadian subsidiary, which launched with great fanfare in March 2013, after the 2014 holiday season.
Nordstrom Rack announces two new store locations

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack, at Chapel Hills East in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and one at Destiny USA mall in Syracuse, New York.

The 33,357-sq.-ft. Destiny Mall location is scheduled to open in fall 2015. The retailer recently announced new Rack stores opening in Buffalo and Albany, also in fall 2015.

The 31,203-sq.-ft. Chapel Hills East Nordstrom is scheduled to open in spring 2016. The property is owned and managed by DDR Corp.
BJ’s selects Esri’s location analytics solutions

Redlands, Calif. -- BJ’s Wholesale Club announced that it has adopted Esri’s location analytics solutions to aid in real estate research strategy and business insight analysis.
Retail Rap: The Brandscape Ahead

While there were some reported ups and downs over the course of last year’s holiday shopping season, the early takeaway is that the season was, in the end, positive. While we’ll have to wait for hard numbers for more detailed insight, and while definitive conclusions might be a bit much to draw at this point, it does seem to me like the increased length of the ever-expanding holiday shopping season didn’t have any appreciable negative impact.
Hockey gear maker Bauer Hockey to open retail stores

Exeter, N.H. -- Ice hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer Hockey is throwing its puck in the retail arena. The company will open its first-ever store this summer, in the Boston suburb of Burlington, Massachusetts. It will be followed by a second location in the fall, in the Minneapolis area.
PizzaRev to open 20th restaurant

Los Angeles -- Fast-casual pizza franchise PizzaRev kicks off 2015 with the opening of the chain’s 20th location in just over two years. The new restaurant will open in La Habra, California, one of eight locations scheduled to open in first-quarter 2015. The upcoming expansion will include entrance into four new markets: Bakersfield, San Diego and Santa Barbara in California, as well as Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Natural Grocers opening in Tucson; on track to open 18 stores in 2015

Tucson, Ariz. -- Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, will open its first store in Tucson, its fourth in Arizona, on Jan. 20.

The family-run company was built on the premise that "consumers should have access to affordable, high-quality foods and dietary supplements, along with nutrition knowledge, to help support their own health."