REAL ESTATE

When Chain Store Age embarked on a search for the Top 10 Retail Experiences in the nation, it was hard for us to look past a 5-million-sq.-ft. mall in Minnesota with a roller coaster and a comedy club, as well as an Apple Store and a Hard Rock Café.   It should come as little surprise, then, to see Mall of America occupying the No. 1 spot in our Top 10 countdown that culminates today.  

The Marketplace at Potomoc Towne Center in Ranson, West Virginia, has been acquired for $35.9 million by Heidenberg Properties Group and Strategic Real Estate Partners (SERP) in a joint venture deal. The seller was Carl Freeman Companies of Rockville, Maryland.  

Last years’ Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, a music and dance fest with rides, drew 130,000 young people on its final day. This summer, Billy Joel will play his 43rd sellout concert at Madison Square Garden, where floor tickets sell in the $200 range. No matter their age or inclination, people still want to leave their laptops and homes behind and be with other people. They just need someone to give them a really good reason to do it.  

One of the nation’s largest outdoor markets is making room for some brick-and-mortar retail.   Berryessa Properties, a family-owned company that runs the San Jose Flea Market has sold a 6.5-acre parcel adjoining the open-air bazaar to Western National Group. The Irvine, California-based company plans to erect an apartment building with 560 residences in the space, including 37,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail in the fifth phase of its Market Park San Jose property.  

Captain D’s, which introduced fast-casual seafood to Tennessee nearly 50 years ago, continues to expand at a quick pace.   The Nashville-based chain announced this week that four new locations are planned for the Mobile-Pensacola market in the next five years and five new stores are planned for San Antonio. It added that a new franchisee will open a location in the Jackson, Tennessee, market this year, with more to follow.  

One of the nation’s fastest-growing communities shows no signs of slowing down.    Amazon has selected the master-planned town outside Orlando as the site of an 850,000-sq.-ft. distribution center set to open in 2018. It will create more than 1,500 full-time jobs, according to Amazon’s VP of North America Operations Akash Chauhan.  

Gymboree Corp. is "right-sizing" its store footprint.  

The remaking of Retail Properties of America is right on track, according to a financial review provided by the Oak Brook, Illinois company.   RPAI reported that it has completed $414.8 million worth of dispositions in the year to date, of which $367.2 million were non-target, multi-tenant retail assets.   In executing its strategic plan to focus on high-performing markets and properties, RPAI has exited multi-tenant retail operations in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Ohio.