American Dream Miami Construction May Not Begin For Another 8 Years

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Speaking to a Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce crowd, an American Dream Miami consultant said construction on the massive theme-park-oriented mall may not begin until 2025, three years after all roads and expressway interchanges into the development have been completed.

In the meantime, fostering more development around public transit hubs is the key ingredient in creating the kind of critical mass that will transform Miami into a true urban center, according to a panel of downtown and Brickell developers.

“Bringing in the Brightline commuter train into downtown is going to be transformative for the city,” said Greg West, president and chief development officer at ZOM. “It not only elevates Miami, but all of South Florida on the global stage. It should bring more population.”

West joined Swire President Kieran Bowers and Henry Pino, managing member Strategic Properties Group and Alta Developers, in a discussion about builders capitalizing on Miami’s continuing evolution. It was the second of two panels during the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce 2017 Real Estate Summit held at Jungle Island on Friday.

Pino said his companies have plans to develop two mixed-use sites near Miami-Dade Metrorail stations south of Miami.

“We are trying to expand our projects to be closer to the train stations,” he said. “We just closed on a property that will be 900 feet from the Dadeland South Station,” Pino said. “We have another one in South Miami that is across from city hall and within walking distance to another Metrorail station.”

Earlier this week, Alta paid $11 million for a 1.45-acre industrial site at 9600 South Dixie Highway to complete an assemblage that also includes a 6,250-square-foot site with a retail building at 9514 South Dixie Highway and a 3,125-square-foot site with an office building at 9516 South Dixie Highway. Alta plans to seek county approval to redevelop the sites into a mixed-use project that includes 420 apartments, roughly 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, a pool, a fountain and a fitness center.

Bowers said Brickell is a good example of how residential development close to a Metrorail station creates critical mass and encourages people to use public transit

“My experience with Metrorail is that it is fine once you get on it,” Bowers said. “But getting to the stations is the real problem.”

During the earlier panel, three developers building massive projects in the northwest area of Miami-Dade discussed the challenges they face breaking ground, noting it can take years to cut through the regulatory red tape. The panelists were Jose Gonzalez, vice president of corporate development for Florida East Coast Industries, Stuart Wyllie, CEO of the Graham Companies, and Edgar Jones, president of Edgar Jones & Co., which is part of the development team building American Dream Miami.

Gonzalez talked about the hoops Florida East Coast jumped through simply to prepare a former landfill for development into an industrial park.

“We bought the land in 2004,” Gonzalez said. “We literally just broke ground last year. And it will take 10 years to build out that park.”

Jones said that construction of American Dream cannot begin until the state and county finish building all the roads and expressway interchanges that provide access to the gargantuan entertainment and shopping destination.

“That will be completed in 2022,” Jones said. “Construction of the mall won’t start until three years after that.”

Jones also groused about amount of time the developers have been required to spend on traffic studies to convince county officials that American Dream will create more gridlock in an area already plagued by traffic congestion.

“The development team has widened the scope of the areas that may be impacted by more traffic so much that we now know the traffic impact in Santa Monica, California,” Jones said in jest.

He also claimed that if American Dream opponents succeed in killing the project, the massive assemblage of land would be developed into industrial parks.

“You will have trucks on the road at significant levels,” Jones said. “Those trucks will be out during rush hour.”

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Check It Out: The View From The Top Of Florida’s Tallest Building

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Future tenants of Brickell’s mammoth Panorama Tower are a little closer to being able to look down on the rest of Miami.

Developer Tibor Hollo’s Florida East Coast Realty is celebrating the topping-off of its 830-foot luxury rental tower at 1101 Brickell Ave.. The ceremony is a customary way for builders to commemorate the completion of the top floor of a new structure.

At 85 stories, Panorama Tower will be the tallest building in Florida and the tallest residential building south of Manhattan, according to the developer. The tower will house 821 apartments, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms and starting at 1,135 square feet., along with a sick array of amenities, including a lap pool, sun deck, weight room, pet groomer and a serenity pool for when you’re stressing about your high rent — an average of $3 per square foot.

Another 208 rooms will serve as a boutique hotel. The structure will house 100,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of high-end retail shops and restaurants.

Construction on the Panorama, which is estimated to cost a total of $800 million, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The leasing program has not officially started, but more than 100 units are already reserved.

Including the building’s antenna, the Panorama Tower will reach 868 feet into the sky, which is higher than two football fields stacked end-to-end and taller than the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, which measures 800 feet to tip.

Panorama will only hold the crown of Miami’s tallest for a couple of years. The building will be dwarfed by at least two other giant skyscrapers in development, both expected to reach 1,049 feet: One Brickell City Centre and One Bayfront Plaza.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Sears At Aventura Mall To Shutter, Be Redeveloped Into Mixed-Use Project

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The Sears at Aventura Mall will close this summer and the site will be developed into a mixed-use project. 

Rendering of Esplanade at Aventura

Sears, at 19505 Biscayne Boulevard, will begin its liquidation sale at the end of April and close by mid-July, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The landlord, Seritage Growth Properties, will break ground on Esplanade at Aventura, with 215,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, later this year. Aventura approved the site plan in December.

Seritage purchased 235 Sears and Kmart stores from Sears Holdings Corp. earlier this year. Under terms of the sale, Seritage recaptured the property, which allows the real estate investment trust to develop the site. It has 224 properties leased to Sears Holdings operating under Sears or the Kmart brand.

In November, the REIT settled a lawsuit that it filed against the owners of Aventura Mall to stop the shopping center’s expansion plans, which are underway.

The mall, owned by Turnberry Associates and Simon Property Group, plans to open a new three-level wing in November with Topshop Topman and Zara, all part of Aventura Mall’s 315,000-square-foot expansion.

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Coconut Grove Sees A New 30-Year First In Commercial Development

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GlobeSt.com caught up with Chris Dekker, vice president of Mayfair Real Estate Advisors and Tere Blanca, president and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, to get their take on the office aspects of this project in part one of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: It’s been 30 years since a new office building was built in Coconut Grove. Why are two new buildings launching at the same time?

Dekker: Coconut Grove is experiencing three decades of pent-up office demand from in and around the area that has led to a submarket vacancy rate of less than 2%—the lowest in all of South Florida. The Grove is coming alive with new condos, restaurants and shops, so we view the development of new Class A office space as the final ingredient that will complete the neighborhood’s comeback. Mary Street, like Terra’s nearby towers at Grove at Grand Bay and Park Grove, represent a new wave of design-driven infill development that is taking advantage of Coconut Grove’s walkability and central location.

GlobeSt.com: Coconut Grove has primarily been known as a retail and residential destination. How does office space factor into the neighborhood’s commercial mix?

Blanca: The addition of new class A office space at One CocoWalk will make the CocoWalk shopping complex more relevant for locals again, after more than a decade of being a destination for tourists. By welcoming new companies and hundreds of additional employees into the neighborhood, we’ll be boosting the area’s daily population and driving more activity on the streets throughout the day, which will benefit the Grove’s retailers and restaurants on a daily basis.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

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Miami’s Class A Office Space Likely To Get Pricier

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Rents for Class A office space in Miami are high, at $50 or more per square foot, and will continue rising as the market tightens, real estate experts told attendees at a recent conference.

Panelists also said that, despite the city’s increasing traffic problems, they expected sustainable demand growth for Miami commercial properties in the future, since the city is an appealing location and a gateway to Latin America.

“The market is tightening up,” said Angelo Bianco, managing partner at Crocker Partners during the Bisnow panel event. “Developers are getting better rates and lower concessions.” At the same time, he added, “Capital markets seem to be taking a break and people are more cautious. Deals are taking longer to close.”

Asked if office rents in Miami were becoming too expensive, W. Allen Morris, chairman and CEO of The Allen Morris Co., said that rents here were high compared to a city like Atlanta, “but they’re low compared to other global cities like New York, London, San Francisco or Chicago.” If developers can find any additional land – without condos – they would build more commercial space, Morris said.

Panelists at the conference at the Wells Fargo Center in Miami also discussed attracting new commercial clients. Many cities like Miami constantly compete to attract new companies and their tech-savvy millennial employees. Smart CEOs want to ensure that they locate or relocate in a place where millennials will be pleased with attractive, often non-traditional office space; nearby amenities (restaurants, retail); transit options (millennials rely less on their own cars); cultural opportunities and good schools. The city needs to develop more “live, work and play” communities, they said.

“It’s attractive to live in Miami,” said Rudy Touzet, CEO of Banyan Street Capital. “Over the next 5 to 10 years, millennials will be moving to Miami, Tampa, Atlanta. Things like education and transportation have to be improved,” he said. The attractiveness of Miami “will fluctuate, but demand will be sustainable if development is controlled.”

“It’s a cool, international city,” Bianco said.

Parking remains an issue, however. While parking availability is currently a necessary part of an office complex, some developers are looking at making changes, such as building parking garages that can easily be converted into other types of commercial space as car use diminishes in crowded urban centers.

And even though Uber and other companies have located their headquarters in Wynwood, the trendy area has problems.

“It’s not easily accessible by bus or trolley routes,” said Barbara Savage, senior associate principal and Stantec Architecture & Design. “Wynwood doesn’t have the views of high-rise buildings but the area has ample amenities and works well for certain types of clients in the range of 5,000 to 15,000 square feet. Art Basel, a major international event and a big draw for wealthy individuals from the U.S. and overseas, “made it challenging for people to get in an out of the area.”

Moderator Brian Gale, vice chair at Cushman Wakefield, noted that four projects have been proposed for Wynwood, totaling about 700,000 square feet, but “We’ll have to see if they are developed,” he said.

Speakers gave mixed reviews on the impact the new Trump administration would have on future growth and business confidence. The government’s moves to reduce regulations in the Dodd-Frank Act “will be good and will allow new credit” for real estate and the rest of the economy, Morris said. The economy is growing and jobs are increasing, he added. But restrictions on immigration could affect Miami. Overall,  Morris expects “positive growth” under the new government.

“I’m disturbed by what we see in Washington,” Bianco said. “We are the place that people go for stability and investment. Even after the financial crisis – which we caused – people still bring their money here. Trump’s aggressive, un-presidential behavior and constant tweets are creating confusion. No one knows what he will do. They should, at least take away his cell phone.”

Members of a second Bisnow panel saw employees of the future working remotely from home (or anywhere else); open, informal, shared workspaces, and an emphasis on mixed-use “live, work, play” developments. Echoing some of the millennial preferences discussed in the earlier forum, the panelists said these preferences will drive major changes in how and where people work. Innovation and technology will play much greater roles for future employees.

“Why own a car if you can Uber everywhere?” asked Juliana Fernandez, founder of AEI.  “Why own an apartment if you can Airbnb? Where do I want to work today?”

Co-working in shared spaces will likely appeal to people who don’t want to always work from home. Moreover, shared workspaces offer employees and the self-employed opportunities to meet, exchange ideas, talk and collaborate with people from different businesses.

Other members of workplace panel were: Laura Kozelouzek, CEO of Quest Workspaces and the moderator; Grant Killingworth, first vice president, CBRE; John Guitar, senior vice president, Brightline; Natalia Martinez-Kalinina, director, Cambridge Innovation Center, Miami; and Edward Owen, Swire Properties.

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Four Major Developments Proposed In Miami

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Four developers will seek to rezone property in Miami for major projects, including a 43-story apartment tower by the Melo Group.

The city’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board will consider all four applications on March 15. If approved there, the applications would need to pass two readings before the City Commission. These rezoning applications deal with the allowable height and density on the sites, not the specific building designs, which would go through a different approval process.

1. Apartment Building Proposed By Meo Group In Arts & Entertainment District

Miami-based Melo Group, one of the largest residential developers in Miami with its condo and apartment towers, wants to rezone the 1.22-acre site it owns through affiliate Art Plaza LLC in the Arts & Entertainment District. It paid $16 million in 2014 for the property at 1336, 1348 and 1366 N.E. 1st Ave., 50 and 58 N.E. 14th Street, plus 1335 N.E. Miami Court. It’s near where Melo Group is currently building the Square Station apartments.

The area is zoned for 500 units per acre. Attorney Iris Escarra, who represents Melo Group in the application, said it’s not feasible to build to that density level under the site’s current zoning because it doesn’t allow enough square footage. Melo Group intends to build an apartment building with ground-floor commercial space, she said. That location is ideal for Miami workers because it’s near the School Board Station Metro Mover and Melo Group would but a public entrance to encourage mass transit and walking, she added.

The property’s current zoning of T6-24-A would permit a 22-story building of 518,000 square feet with 304 units. Rezoning Art Plaza LLC’s land to T6-24B would allow a 43-story building of 1.28 million square feet with 630 units, according to Escarra’s estimate.

“Square Station has the same zoning,” Escarra said. “This area is really in need of that particular zoning change. It’s important to get people to take the School Board Stop.”

2. Apartment Tower Proposed In Omni

Developers Damian Narvaez and Alex Karakhanian plan to build an apartment building in the Omni neighborhood.

Their co-owned company 2247 N.W. 17th Avenue LLC paid $6.6 million in May 2016 for the 43,262-square-foot site at 1900 N.E. Miami Court. It currently has a 50,317-square-foot building from 1923 that recently housed Aspira Charter School.

The developer seeks to rezone the property from T6-8 to T6-12, which would increase the permitted height from eight stories to 12 stories. The density would remain at 500 units per acre. Attorney Steven Wernick, who represents the developers, said rezoning the property would allow his clients to propose a building closer to the area’s permitted density. If approved, it will design an apartment building with ground floor retail, he said.

“The site is in need of redevelopment to bring more housing into the area,” Wernick said.

Based on an average unit size of 700 square feet, the current zoning would permit a 266,963-square-foot building with 220 units. The new zoning would allow a 444,226-square-foot building with 358 units. Wernick said the final number of units would depend on the design of the building and the size of each unit.

3. MiMo Site Could Be Rezoned

The owner of a 1.33-acre site in MiMo wants to rezone the property for more density.

Todd Leoni manages the three companies 7000 Biscayne LLC, 7100 Biscayne LLC, and 7120 Biscayne that own the property. It covers 7000, 7010, 7020, 7030, 7100, and 7120 Biscayne Blvd. plus 565 N.E. 71st Street. The property currently has a three-story office building, two restaurants and a car wash.

The property is currently zoned T4 and T5. The proposed zoning of T6-8 would allow 85 units. There would be no change in the permitted height, as buildings in the MiMo historic district are limited to 35 feet.

It’s not clear exactly what the developer plans to build. Attorney Gilberto Pastoriza, who represents 7000 Biscayne LLC, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

4. Mixed-Use Proposed In Allapattah

A mixed-use multifamily project is planned for the emerging neighborhood of Allapattah.

Luar Investments LLC, owned by Raul Rodriguez, owns the 44,442-square-foot site at 2950 N.W. 7th Ave., 720, 730, and 744 N.W. 30th Street, and 735 N.W. 29th Street. It currently has an 8,956-square-foot building that’s used by an ambulance company and the parking lot is utilized for ambulance parking to serve the nearby hospitals.

It’s currently zoned T4 with 36 units per acre. The developer wants it rezoned to T5 with 65 units per acre. This would allow about 48 units on the site.

Miami attorney Ben Fernandez wrote in the application that Luar Investments intends to build a mixed-use multifamily development with ground floor commercial space. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

 

Source: SFBJ

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Another New Office Building Just Announced For Coconut Grove

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Another new office building was just announced for Coconut Grove, marking the second in recent weeks after nearly 30 years.

CocoWalk owners Federal Realty Investment Trust, Grass River Property and Comras Company plan to raze the eastern building on Grand Avenue and Virginia Street and build a five-story, 73,000-square-foot Class A building on the site, Grass River principal Tom Roth told The Real Deal.

Just two weeks ago, Terra Group and Mayfair Real Estate Advisors announced plans to convert a parking garage at 2860 Oak Avenue into a mixed-use office building, citing the demand for office product and lack of available space in the neighborhood. Together, the two projects will add 140,000 square feet of office space to Coconut Grove.

“We believe there’s plenty of pent-up demand to serve both projects,” Roth said, adding that he believes CocoWalk is a better location.

One CocoWalk, designed by Beame Architectural Partnership, is the first phase of redevelopment for CocoWalk, which was purchased by the partnership in May 2015 in a deal valued at $87.5 million. The once-popular Mediterranean-style outdoor shopping mall has fallen out of style in past years. Roth said plans for phase two, which will focus on retail, will be announced in the coming months.

The office building, geared toward global brands, media and technology companies, creative and financial firms, will be delivered in mid-2019. It will have four floors of office space above a level of ground-floor retail space, plus a rooftop terrace and event space with full views of the neighborhood. CocoWalk will set aside about 250 parking spaces for its office users, which breaks down to 3.4 spaces per 1,000 square feet, Roth said.

“We didn’t buy CocoWalk to keep it as it is today. We really feel it needs to blend better with the rest of Coconut Grove,” Roth told TRD.

 

Source:  The Real Deal

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Tibor Hollo: We’re Starting One Bayfront Plaza In January 2019

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Tibor Hollo will break ground on the 92-story One Bayfront Plaza in January 2019, according to an interview he gave this week with Miami Today.

Completion is estimated within 40 months of starting, he said. The building will top off at 1,049 feet, since that is the maximum permitted by the FAA in the area, Hollo said. He expects other developers will follow him and build at that height.

Most of One Bayfront Plaza will be devoted to apartments, with 1,052 units. The project will also include about 500,000 square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of retail, along with a 200-room hotel. It will be directly connected to a Metromover station by bridge.

Residences will start on level 22. A sky recreation deck will have two giant pools, including one for hotel guests. A second amenity deck will be located on level 40.

Hollo is 90 years old. He currently has Panorama Tower under construction in Brickell, which is already the tallest structure in Miami. Hollo said that Panorama will top off at 867 feet, surpassing any other building in the area by 100 feet, and the tallest (residential) tower south of New York on the eastern seaboard.

 

Source: The Next Miami

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Ven-American Real Estate Tapped To Manage, Lease Westpoint Retail Plaza

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Westpoint Retail Plaza

Castle Real Estate Enterprises has engaged Ven-American Real Estate, Inc. to exclusively manage and lease Westpoint Retail Plaza, an immaculate 16,655-square foot neighborhood center, located at 10101-10251 W. Commercial Blvd. in Tamarac.

Tenants at the center include Dunkin Donuts, Subway, AT&T, Rotelli Pizza & Pasta, CareSpot Urgent Care, Gentle Dentistry, Brightway Insurance and Liberty Tax.

Under Ven-American Real Estate’s management, Subway held a Grand Re-Opening, unveiling a new mouth-watering store redesign focused on integrating technology into all aspects of the restaurant design.

Only one of every five Subway shops in the entire United States will feature this design, which includes:

 

  • All new décor, equipment and design
  • New self-ordering kiosks, allowing guests to “skip the line” and get in and out quicker
  • New touchscreen fountain beverage machine with flavor-customization capability
  • New digital menu display
  • New coffee and specialty coffee program using freshly-ground coffee beans
  • New Panini sandwich press
  • New sauces and toppings

Subway’s goal with the new design is to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment for “this generation’s consumer” while continuing its dedication to delivering the same delicious, fresh and healthy food products the brand has provided since 1965.

Andrew Kruss

“We are very honored to be a part of this technology-centric Subway store concept,” commented Andrew Kruss, Director of Commercial Services for Ven-American Real Estate, Inc.  “It’s the first one in the entire state of Florida, and being a part of any ‘first’ is always exciting,” he added.

The shopping center has also begun a “redesign” of its own.  The property has recently been freshly painted. In addition, plans call for an upgrade to the lighting throughout property – not only for energy efficiency purposes, but to provide a better quality of light and coverage, as well as reducing maintenance costs.

“Our goal is to continue to make tenants and visitors feel safe and make the property more aesthetically pleasing at night,” said Kruss.

Andrew Kruss is a Ygrene Certified Contractor and has helped many clients improve their energy and water efficiency. Projects include lighting, HVAC, roofing, energy controls and impact windows. At Monarch Commerce Center in Miramar, Florida, another Ven-American Real Estate, Inc.-managed property, Kruss was able to reduce energy consumption by approximately 40% while improving light coverage and quality.

“We have also reduced lighting related maintenance costs by approximately $5,700 per year,” Kruss explained.

Andrew Kruss has owned, managed, leased and sold commercial property for thirty years. He is a practical, solution-oriented, hands-on manager who believes in efficiency in property management and energy sustainability solutions.

Kruss added, “We look forward to working with the tenants and Castle Real Estate Enterprises to make the property more attractive, efficient and productive for the entire community’s benefit.”

The shopping center, conveniently located along the Sunrise/Tamarac city boundary, features 150 parking spaces, AT&T Fiber and Comcast Cable, as well as excellent visibility facing busy Commercial Blvd. cross streets Nob Hill Road & Hiatus Road, with 50,000 vehicles per day traveling between the neighborhood thoroughfares. The property is also located adjacent to heavily-traveled Sawgrass Expressway.

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Commercial Real Estate Indicators Signal Robust 2017 Across South Florida

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Year-end surges in the office, industrial and retail sectors foreshadow robust economic growth across South Florida for 2017, commercial real estate experts say.

A lack of new supply pushed office rents higher, particularly in the downtown corridors, and the optimism displayed by businesses looking to expand is prompting developers to strongly consider shovels in the ground after a decade of inactivity.

West City Partners has proposed a 500,000-square-foot office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale, although the project isn’t expected to break ground until an anchor tenant commits.

The Stiles real estate firm is in talks with Broward College for a ground lease at the two-building site on Las Olas Boulevard. Stiles would tear down the buildings and replace them with a 350,000-square-foot office tower, said Doug Eagon, the developer’s vice chairman.

“It is time to introduce the next generation of office space into the downtown market,” Eagon said.

Last year, Stiles paid $13.1 million for the Bank of America building next to Broward College.

“The firm is considering its options, with retail and residential likely,” Eagon said.

Meanwhile, demand is soaring for warehouse and distribution space as e-commerce suppliers struggle to keep up with online retail sales, according to a report from the Colliers  International real estate firm.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, Broward’s industrial vacancy rate plummetted to 4.4 percent from 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Colliers data show. Palm Beach County’s vacancy dropped to a nine-year low of 4.2 percent.

Boca Raton and Jupiter had the county’s two lowest industrial vacancy rates, at 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Those two markets also had the two highest rents — $14.53 a square foot in Boca Raton and $11.43 a square foot in Jupiter.

“Palm Beach County has more than 422,000 square feet of industrial space under construction, the majority of it at McCraney Property Co.’s Turpike Business Park adjacent to Florida’s Turnpike at Belvedere Road,” Colliers said.

In Broward, Butters Construction and Development and Bristol Group Inc. are planning a 925,000-square-foot business park at the site of the former Deerfield Country Club off Interstate 95 and Hillsboro Boulevard.

Tom Capocefalo, senior managing director for the Savills Studley commercial real estate brokerage in Miami, said the tri-county region is geographically positioned to easily ship goods domestically or internationally to the end users.

“We’re finding that the South Florida marketplace is one of the top-tier distribution markets in the country,” Capocefalo said. “It’s incredible, the pace of it.”

“Industial developers are moving north into Palm Beach County because the county has more available property than either Broward or Miami-Dade,” said Ken Krasnow, executive managing director for Colliers in South Florida, said

“Land is a scarcity,” Krasnow said. “We’re not making any more of it.”

“Palm Beach County also had a banner year in retail, with more than 1 million square feet of space leased – the highest level since 2006 and nearly double the 515,050 of 2015,” Colliers said.

Broward totaled 1.4 million square feet in new retail leases, its best showing in a decade. The first phase of Dania Pointe, an $800 million shopping and entertainment center, is expected to open this year just east of Interstate 95 at Stirling and Bryan roads in Dania Beach.

Colliers said small blocks of space in the 2,000-square-foot range are most in demand as Broward tenants seek to control costs in an era of rising rents and the growth of e-commerce. With smaller spaces more in vogue, the challenge for retail landlords this year will be to find tenants for the available “big box” spaces across the region, market observers say.

Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy and went out of business, closing 13 stores across South Florida and auctioning 10 others. In January, Macy’s said it would close stores nationwide, including one at CityPlace in West Palm Beach.

“Landlords will first try to find a tenant to take the space in its current configuration,” said Peter Reed, managing principal at Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton. “When those efforts are exhausted, they’ll have to ask themselves, ‘How do I repurpose this?’ In some cases, they’ll be able to multi-tenant it, but in other cases the best thing may be to scrape it and do something different.”

 

Source: SunSentinel

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