PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

IN BRIEF

Corti, Finley, Forest City

The Corti Gilchrist Partnership, The Finley Group and Forest City Enterprises began building the $300 million Simi Valley (Calif.) Town Center, a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use center about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The retail portion will include anchors Macy’s, Robinsons-May and a third department store, yet to be identified. Simi Valley will also include a home improvement pad anchored by Lowe’s. Developer JPI is building 500 luxury apartments on the site. Simi Valley, which is being built in a classic Mediterranean style, is set to open in October of next year.

Noodles & Co.

Los Angeles-based franchise company Great Circle Management has acquired the rights to build 56 Noodles & Co. restaurants throughout Southern California — in Los Angles, Orange and San Diego counties — over the next seven years. Minneapolis-based KKE Architects, whose clients include Krispy Kreme and Target, will design the stores. There are currently about 90 Noodles stores across the country.

Metroflag

The first tenants have opened at Metroflag’s $175 million, 80,000-square-foot Hawaiian Marketplace, a specialty center on the Las Vegas Strip. The tenants include Hawaii-themed gift stores and restaurants. Metroflag is a joint venture between deelopers Flag Luxury Properties, based in New York City, and the Las Vegas-based Torino Cos.

General Growth

General Growth Properties says it has begun a “multimillion dollar” renovation at the 1.2 million-square-foot Boulevard Mall, Las Vegas. The developer is adding a streetscape of shops to the outside of the center and giving the mall two new entrances, among other improvements. General Growth expects to complete work sometime next fall.

J.H. Snyder Co.

Ground-breaking for the 350,000-square-foot Commerce (Calif.) Town Center is set for next year. The J.H. Snyder Co. project is going up on a site 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Elements include retail, restaurants and a 3,000-seat movie theater.

Golub, IDM, Starwood

A partnership of Chicago-based Golub & Co., Austin, Texas-based International Development Management and Starwood Capital Group, Greenwich, Conn., broke ground on the 932,000-square-foot Scottsdale (Ariz.) Waterfront (see story). The first phase, scheduled to open late next year, will feature 100,000 square feet of retail and an additional 100,000 square feet of offices. Among the tenants announced so far are Borders Books, P.F. Chang’s and Sur La Table.

Ellman Cos.

Construction on the 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use Westgate City Center, in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Ariz., begins Sept. 29. The 280,000-square-foot retail-entertainment portion will include a 20-screen Loews Cineplex anchor. Loft-office space accounts for the rest. Phoenix-based Ellman Cos. expects to finish work in October of next year. Development Design Group is the architect.

Hopkins, Lennar

Work has begun on Whittwood Town Center, an open-air center in Whittier, Calif., on the site of the former Whittwood Mall. Whittier is 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. A Target will join the former mall’s anchors, which are J.C. Penney, Mervyn’s and Sears. Hopkins Real Estate Group and Lennar Partners, both based in Newport Beach, Calif., say they expect to finish up sometime next summer.

Diamond Development

Construction begins this fall on the $70 million, 459,085-square-foot Lake Elsinore (Calif.) Marketplace, a Costco- and Lowe’s-anchored center about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Solana Beach, Calif.-based Diamond Development plans to complete the center sometime next fall. Smith Consulting Architects is the designer.

Donahue Schriber

Following its acquisition of the 160,000-square-foot, Kohl’s-anchored Shoppes at Gilbert (Ariz.) Commons, Donahue Schriber is building a 126,000-square-foot addition. The Shoppes at Gilbert is located 20 miles southeast of Phoenix. New tenants will include Henry’s Marketplace and Old Navy. The developer expects to complete work in the fall.

H&M

Continuing its steady expansion across the United States, H&M is opening its first West Coast store, a 43,000-square-foot unit in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district in the fall of next year. The Swedish retailer has nearly 1,000 units in 19 countries, including about 70 in the United States.

Forest City Enterprises

Cinemark USA is building a freestanding 14-screen, stadium-seat theater at Forest City Enterprise’s Antelope Valley Mall. The 1 million-square-foot mall is located in Palmdale, Calif., 65 miles north of Los Angeles.

Westmar

Temecula, Calif.-based Westmar Commercial Real Estate and a group of 26 investors have broken ground on Murrieta (Calif.) Spectrum, a 180,000-square-foot power center nearly 70 miles north of San Diego. The developer expects to finish the $30 million project in the spring. Murrieta Spectrum will contain four big-box tenants as well as restaurants and smaller shops.

Woodbine, Canyon Oaks

Phoenix-based development firm Woodbine Southwest Corp. and Canyon Oaks Val Vista, of Arizona, plan to start work sometime next year on a Main Street mixed-use center in Gilbert, about 20 miles southeast of Phoenix. The still-unnamed center will contain 420,000 square feet of retail and 120,000 square feet of offices.

Lewis Retail Centers

A third-quarter, 2006 opening is slated for Lewis Retail Centers’ Venue at Parris (Calif.), an 809,373-square-foot retail-entertainment center about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Canyon Gateway

The $2.1 million renovation of the Vons-anchored Canyon Plaza Shopping Center is done. The 125,000-square-foot center is located in Chula Vista, Calif., about 10 miles south of San Diego. Canyon Gateway Plaza LLC, San Diego, replaced the center’s facades and signage, put in new landscaping and remodeled the entryway.

Rockwood/Hopkins

A partnership between Newport Beach, Calif.-based Hopkins Real Estate Group and San Francisco-based Rockwood Capital Corp. plans to pursue some $50 million worth of acquisitions and development in California. The venture, called Rockwood/Hopkins, is currently building two open-air centers in Southern California, one in San Clemente and another in Sun City.

Harsch Investment

Portland, Ore.-based Harsch Investment Properties acquired two open-air centers in the Coachella Valley area of Southern California’s Riverside County for $48 million from M&H Realty Partners, San Francisco. The properties are the 124,152-square-foot Plaza La Quinta and the 141,786-square-foot One Eleven Town Center, both in La Quinta. The acquisitions bring Harsch’s total retail portfolio to more than 2.7 million square feet.

Fain Signature Group

A fall opening is scheduled for the Prescott Valley, Ariz.-based Fain Signature Group’s mixed-use Prescott Valley Town Center. Retail takes up 180,000 square feet of the 240,000-square-foot center; the rest is devoted to offices.

BT Commercial Real Estate

San Francisco-based BT Commercial Real Estate/NAI brokered the sale of two centers in the San Francisco Bay area. Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management bought the 153,000-square-foot, Safeway-anchored Strawberry Village in Mill Valley from the regents of the University of California for $70 million. A private investor bought the 75,000-square-foot Marlin Cove Shopping Center, Foster City, from San Francisco-based PWN Ventures for an undisclosed amount.

Steve & Barry’s

Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear opened its first store west of Nebraska, in The Macerich Co.’s Desert Sky mall, Phoenix. The 148,750-square-foot unit has replaced a J.C. Penney store. In Los Angeles, a 51,226-square-foot Macy’s Home Store is going into Macerich’s Westside Pavilion mall. The landlord expects that store to open in December.

Crown Realty & Development

A Bed Bath & Beyond will anchor the second phase of Crown Realty & Development’s renovation of Media City Center, Burbank, Calif., in the Los Angeles area. The developer is converting the now nearly vacant bottom floor of the three-level enclosed mall portion of the center into big-box retail space and expects construction to start this month. Two AMC Theatres, Circuit City, Ikea, Macy’s, Mervyn’s, Office Depot and Virgin Megastore anchor Media City Center. A P.F. Chang’s China Bistro opened at the center in May.

© 2008 ICSC. All rights reserved. | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact ICSC | ICSC Home |