CARMEL Five new buildings and a parking garage will infuse Carmel's City Center with more retail, commercial and residential space.

The projects costs ranges $80 million to $100 million and could take four to five years to finish. Construction could begin as early as spring, officials from the city and developer Pedcor Co. said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon

Here is a breakdown on the named buildings:

Wren Tower: 6-7 stories, bottom, parking/commercial: second/plaza commercial; all above, residential.

Holland: 5-stories, bottom, commercial/office/retail: top 4, residential. commercial.

Baldwin & Chambers: 4-stories each, bottom two commercial/retail, top two, residential.

There is a also a parking garage and an unnamed fifth building.

A hotel, long sought by city officials, was not included in the presentation.

Pedcor CEO Bruce Cordingley said it took an alliance of 14 banks to fund the project.

The City Center is the centerpiece of the citys downtown cultural and retail district.

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More retail, residences for Carmel's City Center

By Brock Parker, Boston.com Staff

The Cambridge City Council has approved zoning changes that will allow Boston Properties to build a high-rise with 240 residential units and ground floor retail space in Kendall Square.

The zoning change will allow the construction of a high-rise up to 250 feet tall along Ames Street, where the city is also selling Boston Properties a 20-foot-wide strip of land between Main Street and Broadway for about $2 million.

David Stewart, a senior project manager for Boston Properties, said design work could now move quickly and the developer could seek the special permits for the project in the first half of 2014.

If market conditions remain where they are, this has a very good chance of starting by the end of next year, Stewart said.

The City Council voted 6-2 in favor of the zoning changes last week, but final approval was temporarily delayed when City Councilor Minka vanBeuzekom requested the vote come up for reconsideration Monday, Dec. 16. She has since withdrawn the request for reconsideration, according to a letter vanBeuzekom sent City Clerk Donna Lopez last Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The high-rise is expected to include a mix of studio, one and two bedroom apartments, including 31 affordable units.

Boston Properties made commitments to the city in 2010 to develop a 200,000 square foot residential project within seven years of receiving a certificate of occupancy for the new Broad Institute research facility at 75 Ames Street.

Cambridge City Manager Richard Rossi said the developer sent a letter to the city in April asking if it would consider selling a narrow strip of land along Ames Street next to land controlled by Boston Properties to facilitate the construction of the residential high-rise. The city conducted a request for proposals for the property, and selected Boston Properties proposal in November.

Last week, the city council also voted 8-0 to authorize the city to move forward with selling the property to Boston Properties. Rossi said selling the land will result in the right-of-way on Ames Street being reduced from 100 to 80 feet wide.

Link:
Zoning changes will allow residential high-rise in Kendall Square

Retail mall space has recorded an increase of 39% in fresh mall space supply in 2013 over the last year despite deferment of 18 malls in the year. This was revealed in the latest estimation by leading real estate services provider Cushman & Wakefield.

The total estimated fresh supply of retail mall space was recorded at 4.5 million square feet (msf) in top eight cities of India. Of the total supply, Chennai saw the highest supply of 2 msf followed by Mumbai (900,000 sf), Pune (700,000 sf) and Kolkata (500,000 sf). National Capital Region (NCR) Bengaluru and Ahmedabad did not see any new addition of mall spaces for the entire year in 2013. Vacancy in the mean time has seen a reduction of 2% over last year on account of increased leasing activities in the freshly launched malls, most of which started with high percentage of occupancy. Only Hyderabad stood out as an exception to record an increase of 7% in vacancy while Bengaluru and Ahmedabad recorded the highest and similar reduction in mall vacancy at 4%. The improvement in the vacancy levels has been the result of increased leasing activities especially in the recently launched malls. The fresh mall spaces that have started operations in 2013 have witnessed an average occupancy of over 94%. Most of these malls have demonstrated strong fundamentals of being located in appropriate locations from catchment perspective, offering retailers and customers right retailing environment giving retailers the confidence in starting/ expanding in these malls. Hyderabad was the only location to witness the start of a mall with a lower than average occupancy of 70%, despite it being the first mall in over three years, on account of poor market sentiments due to the recent political deadlock. Sanjay Dutt, Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield said, Retail markets have started to show signs of maturity with developers taking interest in creating value out of their projects for all stake holders. Developers are now consciously creating shopping malls that are more suited to the requirements of the retailers as well as consumers. As a result new malls have opened with high occupancy levels with exception of few. Many developers have also deferred their mall projects to align them to their customer requirements to ensure that their future projects are successful. As in the case of hospitality, shopping centres also have a long gestation period therefore investors are interested only in those projects where the fundamentals are strong and can provide sustainable returns and profitability over a long period of time. Sanjay further said There would be a focus on creating USPs for future developments of malls either through location and tenant mix or by creating speciality malls such as luxury retail spaces. Understanding that malls are now more a destination than pure retailing locations, developers are looking at providing holistic family based entertainment opportunities within their malls to both increase their footfalls and conversions for their tenants.

An estimated 9.8 msf of mall spaces have been deferred in 2013 for completion in later times. Of the total a maximum of 7.3 msf of fresh mall supply was deferred in NCR alone amounting to approximately 10 new malls that were expected to get ready for this year but have now been postponed for the future. Pune saw a deferment of 1.1 msf while 900,000 square feet (sf) of mall space was delayed in Bengaluru in 2013. One mall each in Chennai (220,000 sf) and Hyderabad (130,000 sf) have also been delayed. Most of these have been on account of funding issues which have led many developers to slower the pace of construction. MAIN STREETS Main streets have seen a mixed trend in rental changes over the last few years with some micro markets such as AS Rao Nagar (33%) and Punjagutta (29%) have recorded a substantial increase in rentals due to the limited supply and significant demand from the retailers. Most established main street micro markets including Usman Road in Chennai (27%), Park Street in Kolkata (25%), Connaught Place in NCR (17%) have recorded an increase in rentals on account of high existing demand with no fresh supply or churn in these locations. Khan Market in NCR was noted as the most expensive main street in the country but did not record any change in rentals in the last one year. Some key micro market which recorded decline in rentals with Raj Bhavan Road recording the sharpest decline of 14% y-o-y in December due to accessibility issues. Linking Road in Mumbai recorded a decline of 12% over the last year due to price correction. Rentals in Punes Koregaon Park have declined by 10% due to limited demand from retailers.

CITY WISE RETAIL MARKET ANALYSIS Ahmedabad Ahmedabad witnessed no new mall supply during the year because of which the mall vacancies in the city have shown a steady decline of about 4.5 percentage points during the year. This decline in vacancies was primarily due to mall space leasing in mall micro-markets of Vastrapur and S.G. Highway. Despite renewed activities, overall mall vacancies have been high in the city at approximately 29%. Mall rentals across the city have remained unchanged during the year. Despite the limited availabilities in main streets like C.G. Road, Law Garden, Prahladnagar and Satellite Road, the low transaction activity due to limited demand from retailers has kept rentals stable during the year. With shoppers preferring main streets over malls, retailers have followed suit and have shown higher preference for main street locations for expanding operations. Bengaluru With no new mall supply and vacancy reducing by another 4 percentage points over last year, the overall activities in the mall space has seen a rise. However, that has not seen a corresponding reflection in the rental values of malls. Malls in locations like Mysore Road, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Banerghatta Road saw a y-o-y dip in rentals in the range of 5-20% due to poor connectivity in wake of metro construction work, which impacted the businesses revenues making landlords offer competitive rentals in the nearby main streets. Malls in the micro-market of Malleshwaram recorded a rise of 12% owing to robust demand from retailers. Elsewhere, rentals across most malls remained stable over the year. Most main streets in the city recorded stable rentals. Select main street locations like Commercial Street and Vittal Mallya Road witnessed a drop in the range of 3-5% due to non-availability of quality spaces. Chennai In 2013, four new retail malls totalling to 2.01msf of fresh supply started operations. Amongst the new shopping malls which opened in Chennai in 2013, two malls at Velachery and Vadapalani are functioning at almost full occupancy levels. Thus, the overall mall vacancy level during Q4 2013 was recorded at 6.5%, registering a decline of 2.2 percentage points on a y-o-y basis. Categories like apparels, accessories and cosmetics were major contributors to absorption of shopping mall space during 2013. In the submarket of Chennai South, y-o-y increase of 12.5% was seen in mall rentals as construction of good quality malls led to a rental rise in this area in the last one year. While Chennai- Suburbs witnessed a rental decline of 9% for shopping malls on yearly basis due to lower footfalls in wake of the ongoing metro work, mall rentals dipped by nearly 7% in Chennai CBD due to a variety of factors like increasing competition as well as ongoing metro work in front of some shopping malls in CBD. Hyderabad Hyderabad saw the addition of a new mall in Kukatpally in 2013 that increased the mall stock of the city by 430,000 sf. This was also the first mall in a period of three years to see the light of the day and would have been eagerly awaited by the retailers looking for quality space in the city. However, due to poor political conditions and retailers confidence eroding, unlike expected the mall started operations with 30% vacancy pushing the total vacancy of the up by 7%. Almost all malls in the city registered a stable rental trend during 2013, other than those located in NTR Gardens, which witnessed a 17% dip in rentals due to lower demand from retailers. Stable demand and excess supply in prime main streets like Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills have kept the rentals stable over the year. Thus, Hyderabad remained an affordable destination for retailers compared to other Tier I cities. Although, on a whole most main streets have recorded stable rentals, Panjagutta witnessed an increase of 29% on y-o-y basis due to lack of quality retail spaces. Kolkata In 2013, Kolkata witnessed total mall supply of around 500,000 sf recording an increase of over 156% compared to last year. Kolkatas first mall with dedicated zones for luxury brands has become operational in the south central part of the city during the Q4 2013 with around 97% occupancy levels. As a result of a healthy demand, especially in malls of South Kolkata, churn in Salt Lake and Elgin Road and overall moderate supply, the overall vacancy levels in malls registered decline all through the year and fell to 3.9%, recording a drop of 1.8 percentage points on a yearly basis and also registered appreciation in rentals by 11% at malls in Salt Lake and South Kolkata. Other mall micro markets have witnessed stable rentals during this year. Mumbai Mumbai has witnessed just one new mall becoming operational during the year in Thane, admeasuring 940,000 sf. With new supply becoming operational during the year at high occupancy rate coupled with healthy demand for mall space in the western suburbs of Mumbai, the overall vacancy declined marginally by 0.2 pecentage points during the year and was recorded at 15.3% in Q4 2013. With retailers from malls in Mulund moving to better locations in Ghatkopar, vacancies in that mall micro-market have increased resulting in a 20% decline in rental values in 2013. Going forward, low demand from retailers and high vacancy will result in increased pressure on rental values in this micro market. The submarkets of Vashi (17%) and Lokhandwala Andheri (13%) witnessed the highest appreciation in main street rentals for the year 2013 due to high demand for space from retailers. Though Linking Road witnessed a correction of 12% in main street rentals for 2013 due to higher availabilities, availabilities at Linking Road created over the past few quarters have witnessed a steady take-up from the apparel brands at competitive rentals. NCR No new mall supply during the year along with increased leasing in NCR led to a 1.2 percentage points drop in mall vacancy level which was recorded at 13.6% in Q4 2013. Demand was balanced with both main streets and malls witnessing retailer interest.. Re-sizing and relocation of retailing stores was witnessed with a number of national and international brands taking up larger or smaller spaces according to their brand strategy and availabilities. Except Ghaziabad and West Delhi, most prominent mall locations witnessed increase of 7-12% in rental values due lack of new mall supply and limited availabilities. The rental values in main streets have strengthened by 6-15% in select main street locations like Connaught Place, DLF Galleria (Gurgaon) and Rajouri Garden due to persistent demand and limited availability of quality stock. Pune Out of four malls expected to come into supply, only one mall in Hadapsar admeasuring 700,000 sf became operational in 2013. The mall started operations with its anchor tenants of a big box retailer and a movie multiplex in place whilst the other stores are yet to start their operations in due course. The other three malls were deferred mainly due to construction delays resulting from subdued demand from retailers for certain locations. The mall vacancy level increased and was noted at 26.49% in Q4 2013. Many retailers have shown a preference for main streets over malls due to reasons such as relatively poor quality of the malls, issues with management or location, etc. all of which are affecting their revenues. However, some quality malls on Nagar Road are witnessing high demand from retailers. As a result mall rentals on Nagar Road have remained steady while the rest of the city has witnessed a drop of 12-24% over the last year. F&B retailers and youth-centric brands have displayer higher preference for FC Road leading to a yearly rental appreciation of 9%. Main streets in western areas of Pune (Aundh, Baner) have seen an increase in demand from retailers over the year due to the growth of residential catchment leading to a 6% y-o-y rental appreciation. Main streets like M.G.Road, Koregaon Park and Bund Garden Road have recorded a rental correction of 5-10% in rentals due to increasing competition from other main streets and stable demand.

More:
39% rise in new mall supply in 2013: Cushman & Wakefield

Approximately 18.0 million square feet of U.S. retail space was created in the last 12 months, according to Cassidy Turleys 2014 Retail Forecast. In comparison, only 23.2 million sf were added between 2009 and 2012.

Expanded space and redevelopment in the form of urban infill comprised the bulk of retail deliveries this year and account for nearly 60 percent of new product in 2013. Community and neighborhood strip centers experienced the greatest space gains with nearly 10.4 million sf delivered. Nearly all 4.5 million sf of specialty center space added in this was in outlet centers. Malls and power centers added less than 2.5 million sf and 2.0 million sf respectively, according to the report.

Projects currently under construction are following the same pattern. With 6.8 million sf under construction, strip centers account for nearly half of the 14.4 million sf of retail space currently in development, the largest amount in nearly five years. Specialty center construction sits at 3.2 million sf, followed by malls with approximately 2.4 million sf, and power centers with less than 2.0 million sf.

The momentum in construction is expected to continue with 36 proposed projects of 1.0 million sf or greater in the pipeline.

Download the complete report (PDF).

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Retail Construction Returns | CCIM Institute

The fate of the long-awaited Presidents Plaza, a nearly $50 million downtown project that promises office and retail space, hotel rooms, condominiums, a convention center and a parking garage, could be hanging in the balance tonight when the Rapid City Council meets.

At todays city council meeting, council members will consider an agreement brought forward by the City Attorney's Office that would install a Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for the project to enter a contract and then start construction within the first six months of 2016.

Mayor Sam Kooiker, however, will be pushing for construction to be underway by the spring of 2015. The project has been on the drawing board since 2006.

"With all due respect to the developers, the promise keeps shifting and it's time to have a firm timeline per the adopted ordinance," said Kooiker, referring to an ordinance passed in 2012 that called for the project to be under construction or have defined benchmarks for the work by the end of this month.

If that deadline is missed and a new agreement isn't reached, Kooiker said the President's Plaza project would risk losing $2.8 million in Vision funds that were awarded in 2005.

Hani Shafai, the president of Dream Design International, said he needs more time to pursue New Market Tax Credits, a key element of his plan to finance the project.

"It's impossible," he said last week. "I mean it's impossible, which means, hey, we don't want you to go to New Market Tax Credits, start designing."

Kooiker said, however, that Shafai has ample time within the next year to secure the credits.

"I believe this is the furthest we should go out and this is the last deadline," Kooiker said.

The project would be built at Sixth and St. Joseph streets as a mixed-use high-rise with a 100-room hotel, condominiums, office space, a conference center, a restaurant and a parking garage with 500 stalls.

Continued here:
Council to discuss President's Plaza future

The resurgence of the luxury wine business following the economic recession plus capital and marketing investments in downtown Napa to make it more of a tourism destination have supercharged demand for wine-related warehousing, retail space and lodging.

The market for industrial space in Napa Valley is quite limited, according to local experts.

Whether you are looking for small or large spaces, there is very little available, said Michael Moffett of Coldwell Banker Commercial Brokers of the Valley.

Collotype Labels on Dec. 5 said it is expanding ts Napa wine label printing plant by 20,000 square feet to accommodate growth and consolidation of another California plant. The company signed a 10-year renewal of its lease of 51,000 square feet of industrial space at 21 Executive Way in south Napa, ending up with 71,237 square feet after an expansion.

The wine market industry is growing, and all signs are that it will continue to grow, said David Buse, president of Collotype Labels, the areas largest wine label printer. Were growing with the market and needed additional equipment and people, and the additional space to accommodate that growth.

Collotype Labels expansion at 21 Executive Way in south Napa is indicative of activity that has rapidly reduced available industrial space in Napa Valley and spurred further construction.

The company had outgrown its existing Napa space and is accommodating the consolidation of a label-printing plant in El Dorado Hills near Sacramento.

This market is extremely active right now, and the vacancy is very tight under 4 percent, said Glen Dowling, leader of the San Rafael-based Cushman & Wakefield team. I have been working in this market for 29 years and have never seen it so tight. The largest availability right now is approximately 25,000 square feet.

Thats generating tenant demand and prompting construction at several new industrial projects, according to Mr. Dowling. For example, E&P Properties 103,000-square-foot second south Napa warehouse is set for completion in April.

There are at least five projects teed up behind it, and several of them should be under construction next year, Mr. Dowling said.

Original post:
Commercial Development Guide 2013: Rebounded wine business drives new Napa County construction

Top News

Latest Shopping Trends across Asia Pacific: CBRE

Emerging markets are offering interesting investment opportunities in terms of shopping center development, according to the latest Asia Pacific Retail Trends and Retail Hotspots reports released by CBRE. The Asia Pacific market in particular continued to see a steady flow of new retailer openings in 2013, amid steady economic growth and generally positive consumer sentiment.

Southeast Asia, in particular, continued to mature rapidly with the completion of new retail space and increasingly sophisticated consumers, which spurred the arrival of new retailers from overseas.The top five countries of retailer origin, however, remained unchanged over last year. New retailers from the Americas remained the most active, with 71 new entries across Asia Pacific in 2013. Retailers from Italy (47), the United Kingdom (40), France (37) and Japan (24) completed the top five.

While Hanoi recorded the highest number of new entrants (30) of any city in Asia Pacific in 2013, Hong Kong (28) came a close second, followed by Beijing (27), Shanghai (26) and Singapore (25). In India, demand from international retailers in New Delhi (16) remained more-or-less stable over last year, as more groups sought space in prime shopping centers as opposed to high street shops.Despite the prevailing high rentals in the prime shopping locations of many established Asian cities, leasing demand for space in these prime spots remained strong throughout the year.

Not prohibitive rentals, but the limited availability of quality retail space in core locations would seem to have continued to pose a greater barrier to new retailer entry in a number of key emerging Asian marketsincluding New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.Demand from international retailers in Mumbai and New Delhi remained stable during the year, with interest from fast fashion groups in particular remaining firm throughout 2013.Recent quarters also saw a number of well-established international mass market brands enter tier-II locations, partly because of the lack of quality space options in tier-I markets.

Wal-Mart India appoints Krish Iyer as CEO

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc announced that Krish Iyer has been named president and CEO of Walmart India, effective Jan. 20, 2014. Iyer, who will report to Walmart Asia regional president and CEO Scott Price, will replace interim CEO Ramnik Narsey, who is taking a new role as senior vice president, Walmart International. Ramnik will report to David Cheesewright, the incoming President and Chief Executive Officer for Walmart International.

Scott Price, president and CEO of Walmart Asia said: Krish will be responsible for leading the growth and success of our India operations while also continuing to develop our future retail strategy there. His knowledge of our business, combined with his understanding of the Indian market and culture, make him a natural fit for this role. I would like to personally appreciate Ramnik and acknowledge his leadership of our India business as we worked to develop our current business plan.

Originally from Mumbai, India, Iyer joined Walmart International as a senior vice president in 2012. Prior to coming to Walmart, he spent six years with A.S. Watson Group, a leading international health, beauty and lifestyle retailer, serving as managing director in Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, regional business development director and regional director over store design and development for Asia and Eastern Europe. Before that, Iyer was managing director and CEO at Piramyd Retail Limited. Iyer is a Chartered Accountant, having received his Bachelors degree with honors in Commerce and Economics from the University of Mumbai in India.

Link:
Retail Newsletter â December 09 to 13, 2013

Published on December 13, 2013 Optimism shaping up for 2014 retail activity

TRURO Things are shaping up for 2014 as far as the retail situation is concerned at the Truro Mall, an official says.

The former Zellers store in the Truro Mall is being renovated to accommodate multiple businesses, including an international fashion retailer that is expected to open in late 2014. HARRY SULLIVAN TRURO DAILY NEWS

Its always hard and its not always healthy to have 100 per cent occupancy, because it makes it difficult to expand and relocate tenants and get creative, said mall manager Donald Burton. But we expect to have a very healthy occupancy rate for 2014, he added.

Construction has begun in the section of the mall formerly occupied by Zellers to subdivide the area for at least a couple of new tenants.

Unfortunately were not able to make an announcement at this time, Burton said, of one of the primary tenants who will leasing within that section of the mall. But he did say the tenant will be an international fashion retailer that already has multiple locations in Atlantic Canada.

It will be a fall 2014 opening, for that business, Burton said.

As well, Mobile Snap, which markets cellphone accessories, recently opened a kiosk in the mall in time for holiday shopping and Burton has previously announced that Sally Beauty Supply and Wireless Wave are also currently under construction.

Wireless Wave could be open as early as this weekend while Sally Beauty Supply will also be opening in the short term as well, he said.

Also in recent months, Christmas Discounters and Pearl & Daisy opened retail locations in the mall.

Continued here:
Construction underway to fill space vacated by Zellers at Truro Mall

Construction is slated to start in April on One Seaport Square, a $600 million pair of 22-story towers with 832 apartments above 260,000 square feet of retail space in South Bostons Seaport District.

Bostons Berkshire Group, a multifamily-housing investor and manager, spent $72 million to buy three acres along Seaport Boulevard from Seaport Square master developers Boston Global Investors and Morgan Stanley.

The luxury apartment project will include some smaller, less expensive innovation apartments that share common areas.

Its a fantastic location in what we believe is the best part of the Seaport, which we believe is the most exciting part of Boston development right now, Berkshire Group senior partner Steve Wood said.

Seaport Square will encompass 6.3 million square feet of mixed-use projects on 23 acres. Boston Global Investors will be a limited partner in One Seaport Squares residential component. Its a big deal for us, CEO John B. Hynes III said. (One Seaport Square is) the biggest project in the Seaport Square portfolio at 1.1 million square feet.

Chestnut Hills WS Development, whose retail centers include Dedhams Legacy Place and Hinghams Derby Street Shoppes, has an option to buy One Seaport Squares retail component three stories in each of the two towers which it will manage. Its among Seaport Squares 1.3 million square feet of total retail space, which will rival that of the best shopping destinations in the metro-Boston area, according to WS Development senior vice president Michael McNaughton.

We are entertaining all retail, dining and entertainment options, he said.

See the original post here:
Land in hand, Berkshire Group sets course for One Seaport Square

Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 11:41am

Rockland Trust has provided $5.8 million in financing to Coggeshall LLC and Riverside LLC for two construction projects at Riverside Landing in New Bedford.

Rockland Trust provided a $2.5 million construction loan to Riverside LLC for an 11,806-square-foot retail building at Riverside Landing, a 17-acre retail and mixed-use development. The retail space will house Great Clips Salon, Dr. Dental, Little Caesars, Verizon Wireless and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop.

The bank also provided $3.3 million in financing to Coggeshall LLC for St. Anne's Hospital's Urgent Care Center, which recently broke ground on the same site. The new 10,000-square-foot ambulatory care facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014. It will provide walk-in outpatient treatment for non-life-threatening illness or injuries when a patient's primary care physician is not available or emergency room care is not required.

The financing is funded through the bank's New Markets Tax Credit program, which promotes job creation and economic redevelopment in economically challenged communities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The projects are a joint venture between Mark Dickinson of Quincy-based Dickinson Development Corp. and Mark White of Acushnet-based D.W. Construction Inc.

Riverside Landing is the site of the former Fairhaven Mills in New Bedford, which operated from the early 1900s into the 1980s, and was abandoned for nearly three decades. A Market Basket Supermarket and a Taco Bell that opened earlier this year are currently located at the site.

Read more:
Rockland Trust Finances Construction Of Retail, Medical Space In New Bedford