REAL ESTATE

Wilmington, N.C. -- Madison Marquette Retail Services, which leases and manages Independence Mall – in Wilmington, N.C. – on behalf of owner Centro Properties Group, said that Gymboree Corp.’s Crazy 8 brand will open a new store at the mall this fall.

The 2,465-sq.-ft. store will join Aeropostale, The Children’s Place, Gymboree and Justice in catering to Independence Mall’s teen, tween and children’s clothing shoppers.
 

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts said Wednesday it has forged an agreement with three of its existing Latin American partners to expand the brand further in the region.

The agreements call for 133 new Dunkin' Donuts restaurants to be developed over the next 10 years – 38 in Chile, 70 in Columbia and 25 in Peru.

Dunkin' currently has more than 300 restaurants across Latin America, including more than 200 locations in Chile, Colombia, and Peru, as well as locations in Ecuador, Honduras, and Panama.

Dallas -- The Carlyle Group and Cypress Equities announced plans to develop a 250,000-sq.-ft., multi-level retail center on Market Street in the popular shopping district of San Francisco.

The one-acre site, formerly known as CityPlace, will be rebranded Market Street Place. The project is fully entitled, groundbreaking is slated for the fall of 2012 and the grand opening is scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.

Charlotte, N.C. -- Crosland Southeast announced two key hires as part of the expansion of the developer’s project management team.

Barry James has been named senior VP project management, and Mark Hebard has been named project manager.

Clayton, N.C. -- Charlotte, N.C.-based Crosland Southeast announced Monday it plans to develop a Harris Teeter-anchored shopping center in Clayton, N.C. Flowers Crossroads will be part of the master-planned Flowers Plantation development. Construction on phase one of the 125,000-sq.-ft. center is slated for a late fall 2012 launch, with an anticipated opening date of fall 2013.
 
Flowers Crossroads will be a 28-acre multi-use site anchored by the first Harris Teeter grocery store in Johnston County, just southeast of Raleigh, N.C.
 

Dallas -- Neiman Marcus Group on Monday confirmed earlier reports that it would close its Nicollet Mall store in Minneapolis.
 
The 118,000-sq.-ft. store, open since 1991, has not achieved minimum company objectives and will be closed in July 2013, said Neiman Marcus. 

The company said it doesn’t plan to relocate the store in Minneapolis.
 

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group announced the appointment of Matthew Lentz as executive VP and chief investment officer.

In this newly created position, Lentz will be responsible for SPG's investment activity including the company's international investments. Lentz, who will be based in Simon's New York office, will serve as a key member of SPG's executive team and report directly to David Simon, SPG's chairman and CEO.
 
Lentz previously was a managing director and portfolio manager at PointState Capital in New York.

Dallas -- J.C. Penney Co. said Monday it has raised $248 million and taken its first step toward shedding non-core assets by selling off part of its stake in a Simon Property Group unit.

Following the transaction, the real estate unit for Penney – JCP Realty – will hold about 205,000 limited partnership units in Simon’s operating partnership.

Also on Monday, J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson unveiled a trio of in-store shops, slated to open at 683 J.C. Penney stores across the United States starting on Aug. 1.