REAL ESTATE

New York -- Costco Wholesale Corp. has opened its first store in continental Europe, a 140,000-sq.-ft. location in Seville, Spain.

Costco will follow it up with a store in Madrid, according to media reports.

Dallas — Redevelopment has begun at Victory Park in Dallas.

The initial phase of redevelopment, scheduled to finish up late this year, aims to improve the pedestrian experience and connect American Airlines Center/Victory Plaza and the southern area of Victory Park.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company is expanding its presence in Latin America, with plans to open locations in Colombia, Bolivia and Panama.

Starbucks said it is on track to open its first store in Colombia, in the city of Bogota, in mid-summer 2014 through a joint venture between two of its longest-term business partners in the Latin America region – Alsea and Grupo Nutresa. During the next five years, the joint venture plans to expand aggressively in Bogota and to other major cities in Colombia.

For a couple years now, outlet centers have been moving from the outskirts of cities closer and closer to downtown. Howard Hughes Corp.’s Outlet Collection at Riverwalk is the first to make it all the way downtown — into the center of the newly rebuilt New Orleans.

Slated to open on Memorial Day weekend, the former 200,000-sq.-ft. Riverwalk Marketplace has expanded into a 250,000-sq.-ft. outlet center following a $70 million redevelopment.

Covington, La. — Stirling Properties has acquired John Toomey & Co., a commercial real estate company based in Mobile, Alabama. Stirling will add Toomey’s 1.8-million-sq.-ft. portfolio to its own, bringing the total to 15.5 million sq. ft.

John Toomey and his team will join Stirling Properties, with Toomey serving as broker/new business development coordinator for the Mobile area.

Burlington, Mass. — Big Lots has signed a lease for 31,000 sq. ft. at Wonderland Marketplace in Revere, Massachusetts. KeyPoint Partners represented the landlord in the transaction.

Wonderland Marketplace is a 135,000-sq.-ft. shopping center anchored by Marshalls and Staples. In line tenants include Hair Cuttery, Ninety-Nine restaurant, and the U.S. Post Office. The Big Lots space is in a former Stop & Shop. Another 33,687 sq. ft. is available for lease in that building.

At a time when sluggish-to-modest industry numbers have seemingly become the norm, and a protracted economic recovery inches forward, the recent spate of seemingly good retail and economic news has industry analysts and observers like myself raising a collective eyebrow.

San Antonio – Convenience store operator CST Brands plans to open 38 new stores in North America during fiscal 2014. That includes 30 new stores in the U.S. and eight in Canada.