REAL ESTATE

Merchants gaining more leverage over landlords in Manhattan
Plummeting retail occupancy rates have Manhattan landlords in a generous mood. According to a Bloomberg report, Manhattan landlords are offering their retail clients such giveaways as interior redesigns and moving expenses to keep storefronts from going dark.
Auction scheduled for 58 MC Sports locations
MC Sports, a longtime fixture in the Midwest that filed for bankruptcy in February, has put leases on its stores in seven states up for auction. The 58 stores range in size from 11,000 to 46,000 sq. ft. and are located in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Bids are due by April 7 to A&G Realty Partners, which is handling the auction.

Report: Footwear chain eyes Chapter 11, shutters stores

Payless could be the newest retailer headed toward bankruptcy. The struggling retailer could file for bankruptcy as soon as next week. In the meantime, Payless is already making plans to reorganize operations by shuttering stores, according to Bloomberg.
Gaming retailer to shutter stores this year as sales drop

Online gaming is taking its toll on GameStop in a big way. The retailer said that its video game category was weak, particularly in the second half of the year. This challenge, combined with shoppers’ attraction to online gaming, contributed to a total global sales decrease of 13.6% to $3.05 billion for the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2017. The company earned $208.7 million, in the fourth quarter, compared with profits of $247.8 million for the same period a year ago.
Big changes at center near biggest bridge on earth

The Pinnacle Nord du Lac Shopping Center on the north end of the world’s longest bridge — the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway — is adding about 30% to its size. Property owner Cypress equities has begun construction on an 94,500 sq. ft. of GLA that will house new lifestyle retail and restaurants at the Covington, Louisiana, center that currently spans 327,000 ft.
Real estate experts: Still business as usual at Sears

Despite dire statements made on a recent SEC filing, Sears and Kmart stores will remain as fixtures on the retail landscape for some time to come, according to retail real estate experts contacted by Chain Store Age. “The news was not news,” said REIT analyst Alexander Goldfarb of Sandler O’Neill + Partners about a Sears filing that questioned its own future as a “going concern.”
‘Hold on a minute,’ says Sears

Sears Holding Corp. tried to walk back the uproar it caused early Tuesday morning when the struggling retailer included cautionary language about whether it would be able to continue as a "going concern” in its annual 10-K filing.
Commentary: Shopping center owner ahead on the curve on Sears

Sears Holdings Corp.’s acknowledgement in a filing on Tuesday that the retailer had “serious doubt” about its future came as no big surprise to the retail industry, including Joseph Coradino, chairman and CEO of PREIT, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and manages 23 million square feet of retail and lifestyle space.
Famed Seattle center set for renovation

Pacific Place, a 20-year-old luxury retail center in downtown Seattle, will be undergoing an extensive re-do beginning the fourth quarter of this year. The 330,000-sq.-ft. home to Nordstrom’s flagship store, Barneys New York, and Tiffany & Co. will get a new South Lake-facing grand entrance to make way for added space that will accommodate upgraded restaurant tenants.
Avison Young expands reach in the Carolinas

Avison Young has bought a Raleigh, North Carolina-based leasing and property management company and, in the process, added 65 shopping centers to its listings in the Carolinas. The acquired company, Hunter & Associates, was founded in 1989 by Banks Hunter when he took over management of the historic Professional Building in downtown Raleigh. Hunter focused its efforts on the leasing and management of neighborhood and community centers to become the largest, locally-based retail brokerage in the region.