[Updated at 3pm on June 2 with comments from Lon Rubackin.] Lon Rubackin, previously founder and managing partner of GFI Retail Group, has joined CB Richard Ellis Group’s New York Tri-State Retail Services department as a senior vice president, CBRE announced today. “Adding a seasoned broker like Lon, with his deep retail experience on both the agency and client side — including, notably, Forest City Ratner and Bowlmor Lanes, among others — will help further bolster our retail platform throughout the New York tri-state region,” said Nina Kampler, senior managing director of CBRE’s tri-state retail arm. TRD [more]

From left: Pret A Manger is moving in on the corner of 29th Street and Seventh Avenue and Fresh & Co. is a recent addition to the neighborhood on the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue

Once thought of as a transit hub for travelers moving in and out of Penn Station, a strip of Seventh Avenue is slowly gaining retailer clout. Brokers say the stretch of retail from 29th to 34th streets is improving because of shifting real estate values, large development projects on the horizon and the influence of one property owner: Vornado Realty Trust. In the last few months, the quality of retailers in the area appears to have shifted. Fresh & Co., an upscale — primarily lunch — eatery, opened several months ago at the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue. Pret A Manger, meanwhile, has plywood up on the corner of West 29th Street. And, within a couple of months after Supermac macaroni and cheese joint’s closing last November, a new vegan sit-down restaurant opened in the location on Seventh Avenue between 29th and 30th streets. And, as these high-end eateries crop up, some retail experts say that the neighborhood is turning a corner. [more]