GA Group and A&G Real Estate Partners plan to auction 790 retail store leases and five distribution centers in conjunction with the wind-down of fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc. following its January filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bid deadline is April 16 and the auction is expected to occur in New York on April 22.

The available leases cover a range of property types across 49 states, including freestanding stores, power centers, strip malls and urban retail corridors, ranging from 7,500 to 52,000 square feet. No fee-owned properties are available in the auction.

“This diverse portfolio offers strong real estate fundamentals, prime high-traffic locations, and turnkey spaces ready for immediate occupancy,” said Michael Jerbich of GA Group. “This auction offers business owners and investors a prime opportunity to expand their footprint and strengthen their local presence.”

GA Group was recognized in February as the successful bidder to serve as exclusive agent to monetize substantially all Joann’s assets.

Calvin Klein plans to open a flagship store at SHVO’s 530 Broadway in SoHo, parent company PVH Corp. said on its third-quarter earnings call. PVH CEO Stefan Larsson on the call called SoHo “one of the best brand-building and foot traffic locations in the world.” The new store is expected to open by the end of 2025.

The 7,294-square-foot retail store is part of Calvin Klein’s plan to open flagship locations worldwide, highlighting the ongoing return of brick-and-mortar retail. Data from research firm Forrester suggest that 72% of total U.S. retail sales will occur in brick-and-mortar stores into 2028.

530 Broadway comprises what were originally three adjacent structures on the corner of Broadway and Spring Street. SHVO acquired the early-20th century complex in 2020 and spearheaded its mixed-use redevelopment, bringing in architecture firm Snarkitecture to complete its first office project.

O’Brien Commercial Properties closed the sale of 36 Nason St. in Maynard, MA for $1.4 million. The building was the original home of the Paper Store, which now runs to more than 100 stores and over 3,000 employees nationwide.

The building was purchased by Fly By Night Furniture, which operates a large store in Northampton, MA and plans to expand its footprint to include Maynard. Keith Gurtler of O’Brien Commercial represented the Paper Store.

The 11,604-square-foot jewel box of a building was constructed in 1920. It consists of two floors with direct retail frontage along Nason Street.

Hilco Consumer-Retail said Wednesday it will manage store closings for American Freight, which is shuttering all 328 of its locations nationwide. The closings occur as part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Franchise Group, Inc. (FRG), the parent of American Freight, which said the decision to wind down the furniture and appliance retailer was due to “sustained inflation and macroeconomic challenges facing the large durable goods sector.” 

FRG undertook the Chapter 11 filing at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware in part to position its strongest brands—Pet Supplies Plus, The Vitamin Shoppe and Buddy’s Home Furnishings—for continued growth. Franchise operations of the three brands are not part of the filing.  

“Each of these businesses has a demonstrated value proposition and provides great products and services to customers, which they will continue to do seamlessly during this process,” said Andrew Laurence, FRG’s president and CEO. “Strengthening FRG’s balance sheet will allow us to enhance our support for these businesses as they advance their growth trajectories.” 

Gwinnett County is expanding its control over the Gwinnett Place Mall as it works to redevelop and resuscitate the aging property.

Courtesy of Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners

Gwinnett Place Mall in Gwinnett County that is set for a total redevelopment.

The Gwinnett County Commission voted Tuesday to spend $16.5M to acquire the Macy’s department store and furniture store at the mall, a property that includes parking lots and spans 23 acres.

The purchase is being conducted by the Gwinnett County Urban Redevelopment Agency, which earlier this year tapped CBRE to plan the property’s total redevelopment.

The purchase means that the county now controls a total of 76 acres of the former mall property, including the central 526K SF indoor mall portion that was previously used as the set for the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Gwinnett purchased the inline stores, food court and former Belk anchor for $23M in 2020 from Moonbeam Capital, whose previous ownership had become a frequent source of frustration for county officials for failing to initiate any redevelopment efforts of the now-defunct mall. 

But the purchase now means Gwinnett has more real estate to accomplish the transformation of the mall into its Global Village plan first unveiled in 2022. The vision calls for 3,800 new residential units, 50K SF of office space, 55K SF of retail and a 50K SF cultural center surrounding a 13-acre public park. 

“The acquisition of the Macy’s site marks a pivotal step forward in the redevelopment of Gwinnett Place Mall, setting the stage for Gwinnett County to establish a national — and possibly international — model for equitable and impactful transformation,” Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said in a statement.

Remaining anchors Beauty Master and Mega Mart own their stores, and Charlotte developer Northwood Ravin owns the shuttered Sears store, which it plans to convert into an apartment tower.

The Macy’s is expected to remain open until early 2025, officials said. CBRE is expected to issue a request for proposals early next year for developers to tackle the redevelopment project.

Gwinnett officials are betting that the redevelopment of the mall would drive an economic boom in the county. A 2023 study by the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District, which includes the mall property and surrounding 5.6M SF of office space and 15.7M SF of industrial properties, warned that significant delays to the redevelopment could mean the county could lose the potential for millions of new dollars of public revenue and thousands of jobs.

“Gwinnett Place CID is already punching above its weight,” Gwinnett Place CID Joe Allen told Bisnow earlier this year, citing its estimated economic impact to the county. “By creating a new urban core at the old mall site, we could blow that $15.9B economic impact out of the water, elevate property values and spread a halo of benefits to surrounding areas in the county.”

New York City-based fashion brand Alex Mill has signed a lease at Rockefeller Center, slated to open holiday 2024. Alex Mill’s new location at 1 Rockefeller Plaza will be the brand’s third brick-and-mortar store, spanning approximately 1,752 square feet.

The brand was founded in 2012 by Alex Drexler, with the goal of making the perfect shirt. His father, Millard “Mickey” Drexler, is the company’s chief investor and chairman. In 2019, the brand was relaunched to now include both men’s and women’s apparel.

“Alex Mill is a prime example of the types of creative businesses Rockefeller Center is excited to bring to campus,” said EB Kelly, senior managing director, Tishman Speyer and head of Rockefeller Center. “Craftsmanship and attention to detail are in our DNA as stewards of Rockefeller Center, so this is a perfect match.”

Alex Mill’s addition to Rockefeller Center extends the Center’s ongoing success in attracting a diverse range of both local and international brands. Other recent retail additions include luxury Australian brand Aesop, piercing studio Studs and vintage soccer jersey retailer Saturdays Football.

Vornado Realty Trust said its 52% owned street retail joint venture has entered into an agreement to sell Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo the portion of its U.S. flagship store at 666 Fifth Ave. owned by the retail JV for $350 million. Separately, Uniqlo will acquire the remainder of the store from Brookfield Properties, the owner of an office condominium branded as 660 Fifth Ave.

The JV owns the fee condo interest in 17,295 square feet of Uniqlo’s 90,732-square-foot store. In conjunction with the closing of the sale of both portions of the store, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2025, the pass-through leases between the office condo owner and the retail JV will be terminated.

Eastdil Secured acted as an advisor to Vornado’s street retail JV. Vornado said the JV will continue to own 23,832 square feet of retail space at 666 Fifth Ave., consisting of the Abercrombie & Fitch and Tissot stores.

San Diego-based fast casual chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company is taking this action, which followed the closure of 48 locations across California earlier this week, to facilitate the sale of the business. Rubio’s has 86 locations in California, Arizona and Nevada that will continue normal operations.

Rubio’s cited diminishing in-store traffic attributable to work-from-home practices remaining in place, along with rising food and utility costs that, combined with significant increases to the minimum wage in California, put pressure on a number of its locations.

“Despite the company’s best efforts to right-size the company, the continued challenging economic conditions have negatively impacted its ability to meet the demands of its debt burden,” said Nicholas Rubin, chief restructuring officer of Rubio’s Coastal Grill. “The company believes the best path forward for Rubio’s is through a court-supervised sale process that will position the brand for long-term success to grow and flourish.”

The company will enter into a stalking horse purchase agreement to sell its business as a going concern to an entity formed and controlled by its existing lender. Hilco Corporate Finance is being retained to conduct a sale process under the bid.

A building housing an Academy Sports + Outdoors in Brenham has sold for $10.26 million. SRS Real Estate Partners completed the sale of a newly developed 63,224-square-foot single-tenant retail property occupied by the sporting goods giant. The property has a 15-year, corporate-guaranteed lease in place.

Situated on approximately six acres, the property is located at 1041 Nolan Street in Brenham, TX. The City of Brenham is located between Austin and Houston. Academy Sports is within Market Square Brenham, a 51-acre development with 125,000 square feet of retail space and more than 200 multifamily units. 

It’s no secret that convenience store companies are as much in the real estate business as in retail. Very often, flipping a shrewdly bought parcel makes considerably more than selling super-sized soft drinks. One such instance is the recent sale of a 7-Eleven in Nashville.

The Nashville Business Journal reports a Nashville developer paid $31 million for a downtown 7-Eleven. The convenience store giant paid $7.85 million for the 1.18-acre property at 1101 Broadway in January 2018.

Texas-based Endeavor Real Estate, who developed a nearby mixed-use Broadway tower anchored by a Whole Foods, bought the downtown property. The 7-Eleven site is located across the street from the Whole Foods tower and less than two blocks away from two of the company’s residential highrises. The developer has plans for a high-end hotel and residential tower at the corner of 12th Avenue and McGavock Street. The recently acquired 7-Eleven property neighbors the site.