LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds (CJUF) recently closed all-cash on the acquisition of a 32-acre parcel located in Miamis Flagler Corridor. CJUF plans to develop the property a dormant former golf course into a 235,000 square-foot neighborhood shopping center called Fontainebleau Park Plaza, which will be anchored by a Walmart supercenter with full service grocery and general merchandise.

The site, which enjoys an unusually high amount of frontage on the main thoroughfare of West Flagler Street at the intersection of SW 92nd Avenue, is located in the heart of a diverse neighborhood with extremely high density. Nearly 400,000 residents live within five miles of the site, and more than 250,000 employees work within the same radius.

The Fontainebleau site is one of the last remaining parcels in the Flagler Corridor that is entitled for retail development. The project will meet existing demand for services in a community that traditionally has been under-served from a retail perspective.

When you consider the population density and low retail vacancy rate in this corridor, its clear there is a significant supply and demand imbalance that needs to be addressed in this submarket, said Canyon-Johnson CEO and Managing Partner Bobby Turner. We believe in Miami and know the area well, and we are thrilled to contribute to the continued growth and revitalization of the area. Fontainebleau is exactly the kind of project we like to invest in.

Canyon-Johnson is focused on creating job opportunities and revitalizing urban America, said Canyon-Johnson Partner, Earvin Magic Johnson. We are thrilled to be back in Miami, and to breathe new life into a piece of land that has been underutilized for too long.

National and local retailers have shown significant interest in the remaining available space in the center. Leasing for the project is being handled by Rod Castan at the Courtelis Company. Construction for the development of the project is expected to commence in the second half of 2012.

The market fundamentals are currently very strong for retail investments in Miami, and the Fontainebleau project fits directly into our urban retail strategy, said CJUF Principal Jonathan Roth. I am confident that Miami-Dade will remain a target market for further CJUF investments.

About Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund is one of the countrys largest private real estate funds focused on the development of urban properties in underserved neighborhoods. Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin Magic Johnsons Magic Johnson Enterprises joined forces to raise a series of funds to identify, enhance and capture value through the development and redevelopment of real estate in densely populated, ethnically diverse urban communities. Fundamental to Canyon-Johnsons investment thesis is its commitment to a triple bottom line philosophy of achieving superior financial results, fostering opportunities within urban communities, and embracing environmental responsibility. With nearly $2 billion in committed equity capital, the funds are positioned to facilitate more than $8 billion in development and revitalization in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Canyon Capital Realty Advisors is the real estate direct investing arm of Canyon Partners. Canyon and its affiliates are investment management firms and registered investment advisors headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with approximately $18.5 billion in assets under management. For more information, visit http://www.cjuf.com.

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Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds Invests in Miami Retail Development

Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 3:30 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 12:16 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | An apartment and retail development for University Boulevard was approved unanimously Tuesday night by the Tuscaloosa City Council.

Planned for the current site of Broad Street Apartments, owner Phil Weaver intends to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with two buildings one will be four stories and the other will be three that will have commercial space on the bottom floors and living spaces above.

It's not like it's something new, Weaver said. You have 34 units already there, but this is going to be quite an upgrade for that area, and it's going to be a big plus for that area of town.

The new buildings will contain 85 bedrooms in one-, two- and three-bedroom units, and each of the two buildings will have three commercial spots each for a combined 7,500-square feet of retail space.

Weaver already had won approval in October to have the location at the corner of University Boulevard and 20th Avenue rezoned in order to accommodate the mixed-use development. Tuesday's vote was in order to comply with the rigors of the downtown overlay district, which regulates several areas of downtown construction including screened parking requirements and building material standards.

Councilman Bobby Howard, who represents this area as part of District 1, reiterated his opinion from last year that he believes this development will be a benefit for downtown as well as his entire district.

I think it's going to be great, Howard said, noting that it replaces blighted buildings with new ones while adding a retail component. It's a welcomed investment.

Weaver said he anticipates that the three-story building, which faces University Boulevard, will be complete within six months. The four-story structure facing 20th Avenue should be complete within 10 months.

I think it's going to be something very, very positive down there, Weaver said. And I think it will help retailers in that area by putting more people in that part of town.

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Council OKs downtown retail, apartment project

A THREE-deck car park and shopping space, underpinned by Target as an anchor tenant, will be built in Wangaratta within two years.

The $25million development will create 346 parking spots and 4000 square metres of retail and commercial space over a potholed car park adjacent to the Co-Store, on the corner of Reid and Ovens Streets.

The undercover parking will cost $1 an hour, double the present rate of ticketed parking in the citys CBD.

A new style of Target store, smaller than the Wodonga and Albury outlets, will occupy more than three quarters of the floor space.

It is expected to create 20 to 25 full-time jobs once open and 100 jobs during construction.

More than 600 square metres of floor space will be dedicated to a medical centre.

James Scremin, a partner in Prudential Commercial Investments, who owns the Co-Store, and one of the partners who promised a Wodonga cinema almost five years ago, said construction would start in October.

We hope to have it open for Easter 2014, he said.

This has been something we have been working on for the past four or five years.

We hope that with everything else we have in the Co-Store the cinema, shopping, bowling alley and plans for underground mini-golf this will become a shopping destination for the region, not just Wangaratta.

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Target to lead city’s $25m mall, car park

BY KENNYWALTER Staff Writer

The third and final phase of Pier Village, a mixed-use redevelopment along the Long Branch beachfront, is ready for construction.

The Long Branch City Council approved the plan during the May 22 meeting for the development that will include a hotel, retail, residential component and public space, including a play area, concert stage and carousel.

While the conceptual plans have been approved, the Long Branch Planning Board will vote on the site plan and the council then must approve a parking management plan.

We had a meeting yesterday, and we have people working on it as we speak, Business Administrator Howard Woolley Jr. said. Applied Development Co., Hoboken, is the developer for the 7-acre project bounded by Melrose Terrace to the north, Morris Avenue to the south, Ocean Avenue to the east and Ocean Boulevard to the west.

The council approved the preliminary design for the third phase of the project in 2010, and inApril the developers presented modified plans that include an expanded boardwalk and concert stage as new design elements.

At least one business owner gave mixed reviews to the plans during the meeting, expressing concerns about the viability of the project Dan Pinheiro, owner of Stewarts Root Beer in Pier Village, said he doubts the ability of the new phase to bring more people year-round into the area.

I love the concept, but in the past we were promised a lot of things, he said during the public hearing on the project. Ive been there for six, seven years now, and when I first came I was told Id be coming to a year-round community.

I ended up getting stuck with a store that has four months [of business], and there is not much else I can do, he added. It cant just be promised, it just has to be done.

According to landscape architect Tom Bauer, of Melillio and Bauer, the main difference in the plans presented in April is that a beach access point on Morris Avenue would be preserved.

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Final phase of Pier Village approved

Last Updated: May 25, 2012 12:03pm ET

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This is more activity than we have seen in many years in Santa Monica, says Deschaine.

(Save the date: RealShare Apartments comes to the Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, October 24.)

SANTA MONICA, CA-With at least eight mixed-use projects combining residential and retail either under construction or in planning stages, the city currently has approximately 500 units of housing in the pipeline. A major impetus for the development is the Expo Light Rail line, which is due for completion in 2015, but factors such as high downtown demand and easily available capital are also fanning the flames, according to Lee & Associates-L.A North/Ventura Inc.

The projects represent a combination of redevelopments and ground-up projects with a majority of the residential component consisting of rental apartments along with some condominiums. Each project will contain approximately 50 to 100 units of residences.

This is more activity than we have seen in many years in Santa Monica, says Christine Deschaine, a principal of Lee & Associates, who is preleasing one of the projects underway and advising on another. It is being fueled by several factors: high demand for apartments in the Santa Monica downtown core and the availability of financing mostly from private-equity firms and construction lenders.

Deschaine is representing SeventhandArizona LLC in the leasing of the retail portion of a mixed-use project at Arizona Ave. and 7th St. The project, which has not yet broken ground, is slated to open in late 2013. She has also been advising Century West Partners in Los Angeles, a joint venture formed by real estate heavyweights Steve Fifield, head of Fifield Cos. in Chicago, and Michael Sorochinsky, founder of locally based Cypress Equity Investments, on another project here. The joint venture has additional projects in the planning stages here.

Santa Monica has long been an outstanding trade area for retailers because of its demographics, tourism and the critical mass of stores located there, says Sorochinsky, whose company strategy is to acquire assets in value-add space throughout Southern California and to develop class-A multifamily and mixed-use property in strong infill locations. Now, with a renewed focus on housing, it is going to be even more attractive to retailers.

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Eight Mixed-Use Projects Will Add 500 Housing Units

For decades, Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury has been no more than a high-traffic passageway to other parts of Boston.

But under new plans approved by Boston regulators, Melnea Cass is due for a dramatic change that will result in new shops and restaurants, a supermarket, a hotel, and dozens of homes.

Two teams of developers have been given the green light by City Hall to build a mixed-use community on vacant land on both sides of the boulevard between Washington Street and Shawmut Avenue. Their projects will form a new gateway to Dudley Square, which in recent years has also attracted a burst of redevelopment activity.

We are ecstatic that were starting to see some forward movement on these vacant parcels, said Darnell Williams, chairman of a Roxbury planning committee that has spent years trying to spur an economic revitalization in the area. We want it to be comparable to the retail and housing options in the other parts of Boston.

The two sites to be redeveloped, known as parcels 9 and 10, have been largely vacant since the 1960s, when they were cleared for a planned extension of Interstate 95 that was never built.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority initiated a process to redevelop them several years ago and earlier this month awarded building rights to Urbanica Design + Development and Madison-Tropical LLC, a partnership of Madison Park Development Corp. and the Tropical Foods supermarket.

Urbanica will build a $63 million complex on parcel 9 that will include a 150-room hotel, a two-story commercial and community building, and a five-story residential and retail structure.

The hotel will sit adjacent to Ramsey Park, and it will have ground-floor community spaces that link to the parks baseball fields.

The project will include 52 homes, with eight to be designated affordable. An executive with Urbanica said the firm wants to open at least one restaurant as well as a music club on the 1.3-acre property.

The neighborhood needs activities that strengthen the culture thats already there, said Kamran Zahedi, principal at Urbanica. Were not trying to bring the South End to Roxbury. Roxbury is going to take its own shape based on its landscape and demography.

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2 projects to revitalize Roxbury boulevard

Readmore: Local, State, News, Construction, Steak and Sundae, James Street, Syracuse, City, Eastwood, Buildings, Work, New, Old

SYRACUSE -- There could soon be new life for an old crumbling building in Syracuse's Eastwood neighborhood.

For the past few days, construction crews have been working on the old Steak and Sundae building on the corner of Midler Avenue and James Street. CNY Central has learned the city planning commission has approved most of the plans for the site. The developer has long wanted to transform the old building into new space for new businesses. It appears crews were working on the roof on Friday.

People who live nearby say they are hoping this is a sign of progress for the neighborhood. "I'm happy to see it go if they do something good with it," said Maxine Williams wholives in Eastwood. "They could do a lot of things with this building."

"I hope they build something that looks decent," said Aaron Wheeler who lives in Eastwood. "Right now it looks bad."

A few blocks down the street, the plot of land next to the Walgreens on James Street is also under construction. A sign posted on the fence says it will be completed retail space in the fall.

"I'm hoping they are going to open up new businesses and new jobs for people," said Flora Azemi.

What do you think of the construction in Eastwood?

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Construction could build new life for crumbling buildings in Eastwood

OTTAWA, May 25, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Ivanho Cambridge announced today a $200-million investment in Bayshore Shopping Centre, boosting the centre's retail area by 160,000 square feet (14,900m2). Slated for completion in 2015, this major redevelopment and expansion project begins immediately. The additional retail space will allow the centre to introduce highly desirable retailers into the Ottawa market.

"This investment reflects our strategic plan to invest in our properties in order to provide an exceptional shopping experience for consumers and an optimal place of business for our retailers," said Kim McInnes, President, Global Operations, Ivanho Cambridge.

The centre, managed by Ivanho Cambridge and co-owned with KingSett Capital, will remain open during the phased construction. The modern makeover includes moving and expanding the food court and nearly tripling its seating area, as well as increasing parking space by 10 percent. The bulk of the expansion will be on the northern side of the property, in place of the existing parking tower.

"The project is well-timed because the Ottawa market has grown substantially over the past few years," noted George Fiddler, Senior Vice President, Retail, Central North America, Ivanho Cambridge. "Ivanho Cambridge and KingSett Capital are proud to partner in this investment which will seal Bayshore Shopping Centre's position as the preferred shopping destination for Ottawa and the surrounding areas," he added.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson commented: "Bayshore is a commercial cornerstone for not only the community, but the entire west end of the city. These improvements will generate significant economic benefits and ensure that Bayshore Shopping Centre can continue to be a strong partner to the community."

Mayor Watson and Bay Ward Councillor Mark Taylor joined Ottawa West-Nepean MPP and Ontario Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Bob Chiarelli for the official launch of the redevelopment - one of the largest projects of its kind in Ottawa history. "Expanding Bayshore Shopping Centre will create over 400 new, permanent jobs, right here in Ottawa West-Nepean," said Mr. Chiarelli. "The shopping centre's commitment to enhance our farmers' market and strengthen its partnership with the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre's employment program will also benefit local families."

Bayshore Shopping Centre has been working closely with the provincial and municipal governments, and local community partners, to ensure the success of this redevelopment project. Construction vehicles will be re-routed to mitigate congestion on local streets, and transportation initiatives will be introduced during peak shopping periods.

"Area residents are looking forward to seeing their neighbourhood shopping centre grow into one of the more impressive centres in the country," said Councillor Taylor. "Bayshore Shopping Centre is an incredible community partner and I am very pleased to be on hand for the groundbreaking of this project."

About Bayshore Shopping Centre

Bayshore Shopping Centre is Ottawa's premier shopping destination thanks to its strong tenant mix and ideal geographic location. Situated in the western portion of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area, it boasts 165 retailers such as Bath & Body Works, Banana Republic, Aries and Jack & Jones, in addition to several anchor stores, including The Bay, Sports Experts and Old Navy. It is also the only shopping centre in Ottawa where both Winners and HomeSense can be found under one roof. Bayshore is visited by over 7 million customers per year.

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Bayshore Shopping Centre embarks on $200-million renovation and expansion project

CoStar Forecast Predicts A Couple More Years Of Flat Absorption As Supply of Shopping Center Space Remains In Sync With Demand

However, the expected moderate demand for shopping center space should stay in check with the very low levels of new supply expected over the next couple of years, according to the report presented by Senior Real Estate Strategist Suzanne Mulvee and Real Estate Economist Ryan McCullough.

"Its been a long slog for the last couple of years, but the retail market is getting healthier from a fundamentals standpoint," McCullough said in a recent presentation. "Were not seeing a lot of dynamic demand and absorption in retail today, but were also not seeing the [development] that got out of hand during the last cycle."

The modest absorption figures mask the deeper story of a retail market divided into haves and have-nots. With little new retail space under construction, centers blessed with strong demographics in constrained urban areas are likely to lease up quickly, while properties in less desirable areas will experience difficulty filling their vacancy holes, McCullough said.

Theres hope that the recovery is broadening, however, with retail chains starting to shed their aversion to risk and look beyond the safest areas in hopes of getting ahead of the growth curve over the last year in western and southern metros, where housing bust markets such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and South Florida are again showing signs of life.

The U.S. retail market recorded about 10 million square feet of absorption in the first quarter, a low level compared with the same point in past recoveries, especially given the limited new supply and strong rebound in retail sales over the last two years, McCullough said.

One reason for the modest absorption in recent quarters is that demand has slackened for space in power centers, by far the strongest sector in retail emerging from the Great Recession. While malls, strip centers, community centers and neighborhood shopping centers have consistent trailed power center, traditional anchors like Kmart and Best Buy are repositioning their stores in light of rising competition from Internet sales and other changes in buying patterns.

CoStar forecasts that power center demand will remain flat for 2012 as store closures and downsizings by some retailers partially offset the growing number of store chains that are aggressively expanding their footprints. Chains such as Kmart, Best Buy and OfficeMax are returning an estimated several million square feet of store space to the market through closures in 2012.

Many other leading chains, however, such as Wal-Mart, Dicks Sporting Goods, Target and Burlington Coat Factory, are aggressively leasing up space to take advantage of attractive rents at the trough of the market. Larger stores like Best Buy are shrinking their footprints to fit urban infill centers, while other fast-growing chains like Ross, Marshalls and Burkes Outlet take advantage of the lower rents to expand into larger spaces.

Another trend in recent years has been the emergence of outlet centers as a rival to regional malls. Even as vacancies in outlets have trended higher than either malls or power centers since mid-2010, however, publicly traded and private operators continue to compete for a share in the outlet space, headed by the worlds largest mall operator, Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).

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Retailers Cautiously Eyeing Expansion Into More U.S. Markets as Shopping Activity Rises

FOREST --

One of Bedford Countys most popular residential neighborhoods plans to add a retail shopping center fronting U.S. 221 in Forest.

Maddox & Son Construction Inc. seeks to rezone two parcels to allow for a shopping center in front of the Gables of Jefferson Commons, a nine-building apartment complex with 216 units that have mostly filled since construction began a few years ago.

Andy Maddox, the companys president, wants to change the zoning from C-1, office district, to a C-2 general commercial district so two-story buildings could be built facing U.S. 221 on opposite sides of the entrance to the complex. The buildings would have retail space on the first floor and apartments on the second and would be the first housing in Forest to locate atop retail commercial space.

The countys department of community development on Wednesday hosted a neighborhood information meeting on the rezoning at the Forest Public Library. Besides Maddox and the project engineer, only one adjacent property owner and Forest District planning commission member Fred Fralick attended.

Maddox, whose company also constructed similar Gables projects in Wyndhurst and Cornerstone in Lynchburg, said a couple of restaurants are interested in locating to the proposed shopping center. He said he has sent information to other chains but no announcements are ready at this time. He added he wants to attract anchors to the area.

He envisions 20 units of loft style apartments between the two buildings that would be mostly single-bedroom. The residential portion of the project would allow for more patience with the commercial aspect.

Our intentions are not to compromise our property behind, he said, referring to the Gables complex. We want to be selective.

The exact square-footage of the buildings was not stated Wednesday, but Maddox said the land allows for about 25,000-square-feet of space combined.

Maddox said he hears from businesses that they want to locate to Forest but do not want to go as far as Perrowville Road. Current zoning of the parcels is very limited to office uses, county planner Brad Robinson said.

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Forest retail center planned for U.S. 221 complex