NEW YORK, NY —With the eyes of the retail world squarely focused on ICSC’s annual RECon event, Olshan Properties, one of the country’s private owners, developers and managers of mixed-use real estate, reported that leasing momentum remained strong throughout its national commercial portfolio during the past six months. “Our core retail portfolio continues to exhibit resilience despite the increasingly uncertain economic outlook that characterized the start of the year,” said Andrea Olshan, CEO of Olshan Properties. “Compared to the first quarter of 2015, our total leasing volume based on the number of retail transactions increased by approximately 24% during the first quarter of 2016 and much of that activity was generated by a flurry of late 2015 deals,” added Olshan. Highlights from Olshan Properties’ retail portfolio over the past six months include the following transactions:
•At Bayshore Town Center in Glendale, Wisc., a new 17,000 s/f Old Navy store was constructed and officially opened in late 2015;
•At Kansas City’s Zona Rosa Town Center, Unite Private Networks (UPN), a provider of high-bandwidth, fiber-based communications networks and services, relocated its Kansas City headquarters office to Zona Rosa. The center also announced two new retail tenants to include Pure Barre and Google Fiber Store;
•The Shoppes at Webb Gin, located near Atlanta, GA, welcomed several new tenants, including Cigar Bar, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and Orangetheory Fitness;•The Greene Town Center, in Dayton, OH., announced new tenants, Ulta Beauty, J. Crew Mercantile, World of Beer, and Mattress Firm; in addition, Lululemon opened its doors for business in late 2015;
•At Mercury Plaza Shopping Center in Hampton, VA a new, 22,000 s/f Marshall’s opened in late 2015;
•In Midtown Manhattan’s Third Ave. at 60th St., cutting edge fitness chain Flywheel recently opened a 4,500 s/f studio;
•At Siegen Lane Marketplace in Baton Rouge, LA, bowling anchored entertainment chain Main Event Entertainment signed a 49,810 s/f lease for its first Louisiana location with plans to open for business in 2017;
•At Akers Mill Square, located in Atlanta, GA., two new tenants signed leases – Bonefish Grill and Sport Clips.
As an owner and operator of four asset classes, including retail, office, hotel and residential, Olshan Properties has mastered the art of developing multifaceted destinations that appeal to tenants by luring customers and keeping them on-site. Olshan Properties’ decades-long record of success in creating true mixed-use destinations of various types and sizes spans ten states and 10 million s/f. In terms of square feet, Olshan Properties’ diverse retail holdings comprise the single largest component of their CRE portfolio. Among Olshan Properties’ diverse retail holdings are award-winning regional, power, and community centers as well as prime urban retail locations. In recent years, Olshan Properties’ commercial portfolio has grown through strategic acquisitions, ground-up developments, new partnerships and re-development opportunities. To closely manage this portfolio, Olshan Properties’ leasing, marketing, operations, capital markets and asset management teams oversee the entire portfolio on a real-time basis. “Our portfolio incorporates the strongest elements of each individual asset class into the properties that we own and operate, and, as a result, more than half of our retail properties are located in mixed-use environments. It is abundantly clear that this strategy resonates with our consumers and our tenants, both of whom see mixed-use environments as holding far greater growth potential than any single-use development could offer,” said Andrea Olshan.