REAL ESTATE

Venture completes three anchor leases across Texas
Dallas -- X Team International announced that partner Venture Commercial Real Estate completed three retail anchor leases for landlords and tenants, totaling 110,000 sq. ft. across Texas.

Walmart signed a ground lease to build a 42,000-sq.-ft. Walmart Neighborhood Market store at the site of a former Brookshire Brothers at 1030 N. University Drive in Nacogdoches.

Hobby Lobby signed a lease to open a 50,200-sq.-ft. store at 2200 S. Loop 256 in Palestine.
Nordstrom Rack in 2017 opening
Seattle -- Nordstrom remains on the move with its off-price division.

Charming Charlie names industry vet as senior VP of real estate & construction

Houston -- Charming Charlie has appointed Melissa Boughton as senior VP of real estate & construction, where she is spearheading the retailer’s real estate, store planning, construction, facilities and lease administration functions.
Batteries Plus Bulbs sees the omnichannel light

Hartland, Wis. – Battery, lightbulb and smartphone/tablet repair franchise Batteries Plus Bulbs is expanding its omnichannel experience — and that includes its physical store portfolio.

The company has launched a new e-commerce site, with a new and improved infrastructure, that ties its online presence more tightly to its nationwide network of more than 650 stores. And as part of its omnichannel growth strategy, Batteries Plus Bulbs plans to open 50 new locations across the country in 2015.
CityLine to add three new restaurants to mix

Photo: Fernando’s owner Fernando Padilla with CityLine location general manager Omar Hernandez.
Merchants Retail Partners acquires Alabama shopping center

Auburn, Ala. -- Merchants Retail Partners recently led the acquisition of Flint’s Crossing in Auburn, Alabama, on behalf of its related investment partner. The 100,000-sq.-ft. shopping center is anchored by gourmet grocer EarthFare and Panera Bread.
New West Elm boasts armory-inspired design

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- The design of West Elm’s upcoming store was inspired by a armory.

The retailer will open its ninth New York store on July 23. The 10,600-sq,-ft. store is located at Culver Road Armory, in Rochester.
Thirty-one stores and growing

Chicago -- Marbles: The Brain Store is in an expansion mode.

The retailer has opened a new store in Washington D.C., at National Harbor, the waterfront shopping and entertainment district on the Potomac River. It is Marbles’ second location in the Washington, D.C., area and its third to open this summer, with new stores debuting in Times Square in New York City and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, marking its first location in the southern region.
Englewood Construction completes Hobby Lobby, American Girl projects

Chicago -- Englewood Construction has finished a 55,000-sq.-ft. ground-up Hobby Lobby store on an outlet pad at Seabrook Crossings, a new retail development in Seabrook, N.H.

In Franklin, Tenn., Englewood recently completed an American Girl store, located in the CoolSprings Galleria mall just outside of Nashville. The store is the 12th Englewood has completed for American Girl. The architect for the project was Morristown, N.J.-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
Phillips Edison Grocery Centers nabs three centers

Cincinnati -- Phillips Edison Grocery Center announced it has acquired three grocery-anchored shopping centers in Michigan, California, and Massachusetts.

Crossroads Towne Center is a 102,275-sq.-ft. grocery store-anchored shopping center in Howell, Michigan, a suburb of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The center is anchored by Kroger, and also features national tenants Great Clips, Jets Pizza, Subway, H&R Block, and Little Caesars.