Shopping Centers Today -> January 2004
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REGION IN BRIEF
SAN PATRICIO PLAZA GROWS
Caparra Center Associates added a two-level Bed Bath & Beyond
to its regional San Patricio Plaza in Guaynabo’s San Patricio
Village mixed-use community. The 41,000-square-foot addition brings
the center to 570,000 square feet. Other anchors are Kmart and Walgreens.
Caparra also owns the upscale Galleria San Patricio center in the
same community.
CHAINLINKS OPENS IN PUERTO RICO
Real estate services firm ChainLinks Retail Advisors has opened
an office in San Juan under the name Commercial Centers Management.
ChainLinks manages 1.8 million square feet of retail on the island.
The company assists retailers with local, regional or national expansion,
disposition, relocation and repositioning.
HOT TOPIC COMES TO PUERTO RICO
Clothing and accessory chain Hot Topic opened its first three Puerto
Rico stores last year, in Carolina, Hatillo and Mayagüez. Hot
Topic plans to open three more units on the island this year. As
of its third quarter, which ended in November, the chain had 501
units in the United States.
PLAZA CAROLINA ON BLOCK?
Lend Lease Real Estate Investments has put the 1.1 million-square-foot
Plaza Carolina mall up for sale, according to Euromoney Institutional
Investor. The center, located in Carolina about four miles from
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, is valued at $250
million, the magazine reports. J.C. Penney and Sears anchor Plaza
Carolina.
PLAZA ESMERALDA TO BRING FASHION RETAIL TO SANTA ISABEL
La Corporación de Plaza Esmeralda is building the Plaza Esmaralda,
a 100,000-square-foot center with fashion retailers, restaurants
and a bowling alley, in Santa Isabel, on the site of a former cotton
mill. The developer expects to complete the center by the summer.
RD MANAGEMENT ADDS TENANTS
RD Management is adding a 30,000-square-foot Bed Bath & Beyond
to its 723,473-square-foot Los Colobos Shopping Center, in Carolina.
The addition will expand the center by 10,000 square feet. The firm
is also putting a Bed Bath & Beyond inside its 450,000-square-foot
Ponce (Puerto Rico) Towne Center. Further, an 18,000-square-foot
OfficeMax is coming to the 450,000-square-foot Rexville (Puerto
Rico) Towne Center, in the town of Rexville. RD Management expects
the stores to open during the first half of the year.
PRIME OUTLET GETTING CINEMA
A 10-screen Caribbean Cinemas theater is scheduled to open by the
end of the year at the 176,038-square-foot Prime Outlets Puerto
Rico, in Barceloneta. Other tenants expected this year are apparel
chain 5-7-9 Stores and Baker’s Shoes. A Farmacias El Amal opened
at the center last year.
STRIP CENTER IN RÍO GRANDE
Río Grande Investment is building a 300,000-square-foot strip
center, to be called Plaza Río Grande, in the resort city of
Río Grande, in northeast Puerto Rico. The developer says a
Pitusa hypermarket anchor is scheduled to open by December, with
the rest of the center to open the following spring.
PANDA EXPRESS EXPANDS
Panda Restaurant Group has opened a Panda Express Asian restaurant
in Bayamón, in metropolitan San Juan, bringing the total number
of its units on the island to six. The company has more than 500
restaurants in the United States.
CHILDREN’S PLACE TO OPEN STORES
Children’s Place plans to open as many as 10 stores this year
in Puerto Rico, where it does not yet have a presence. As of Nov.
26, the retailer had 649 units in the United States and 40 in Canada.
BELZ TO EXPAND PUERTO RICO OUTLET
Belz Enterprises plans to develop as many as six outparcels, totaling
24,000 square feet, at its 446,000-square-foot Belz Factory Outlet
World, in Canóvanas, which is about a 25 minute-drive from
San Juan.
Belz has given no timetable for the construction of the project, but
says it is looking at putting banks, pharmacies and restaurants
in the spaces. Last year a 26,500-square-foot Caribbean Cinema opened
at the center.
