REAL ESTATE

Philadelphia – A new $500 million retail/residential development is reportedly planned for downtown Philadelphia. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a block of stores located on Market Street between 11th and 12th Street in Philadelphia will be razed or moved to make way for a new complex that will be known as East Market.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Roy D. Vice has joined Levin Management as VP of construction and development. In his new role, Vice will work closely with Levin’s property management and leasing teams to oversee all construction and development activities in the firm’s retail portfolio of more than 13 million square feet.

New York — Choza Taqueria, a Manhattan-based Mexican restaurant, has signed a lease for its third location at 100 Park Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets. The new location will reach a lunchtime crowd from the area’s many Class A offices and the business commuters and visitors passing through Grand Central Station.

Winick Realty Group represented Choza, which currently operates storefronts on Madison Avenue and 27th Street and Macdougal Street and Bleecker Street.

Katy, Texas -- Sporting goods retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors will continue its Midwestern expansion push with plans to open four new stores across Indiana and Kentucky later this fall.
 
The first two locations — Evansville, Ind., and Owensboro, Ky. — will mark Academy's entry into both states followed by the opening of stores in Louisville and Middletown, Ky., prior to the holidays.

By Dustin Watson, partner and director of sustainability, DDG

Place-making has become perhaps the essential element in creating value in today’s competitive retail environment.

Cincinnati — Phillips Edison-ARC Grocery Center REIT II has acquired its first grocery-anchored shopping center — the 81,674-sq.-ft. Bethany Village in Alpharetta, Ga., an affluent suburb of Atlanta.

A 51,674-sq.-ft. Publix anchors the center. Publix is the number one grocer by market share in the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area. Other national tenants at Bethany Village include Marco’s Pizza, Subway and Workout Anytime.

Dallas — SRS real Estate Partners has appointed Adam Baxter as first VP in the Birmingham office. He will focus on tenant and landlord representation in the Birmingham market.

Yonkers, N.Y. – Banana Republic will become a new retailer at the Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, N.Y. Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer and owner of Ridge Hill, said the Banana Republic location will open beneath the center's Uniqlo store.