The new iPic theater coming to Mizner Park
Boca Raton and Hallandale Beach are both slated to get new large-scale luxury movie theaters, the Miami Herald reported. A new iPic Entertainment theater will open later this year in Boca Raton, and Hallandale’s Village at Gulfstream Park will launch a new facility by December. The iPic theater will include a restaurant and bar, and the Hallandale location will feature its own nightclub. [more]
Retail chain Lord & Taylor will be opening a location in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park, according to a company spokesperson, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The store may be filling the space vacated by furniture chain Robb & Stucky, sources say. Robb & Stucky filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. [more]
New York-based retail chain Lord & Taylor is gearing up to open three new stores in the next year, the New York Post reported. New locations will include an 80,000-square-foot store at Ridge Hill, a lifestyle center in Yonkers,a 120,000-square-foot store in Rockingham, NH, and an 80,000-square-foot store in Boca Raton, Fla., at Mizner Park.
The move to open more stores comes as a surprise since Lord & Taylor’s owner, Canada-based Hudson’s Bay Co., called off plans earlier this month to launch an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
While Hudson’s Bay isn’t in any financial difficulties, its owner and chairman, Richard Baker — a New York real estate mogul who purchased Lord & Taylor as a property investment is eager to launch the IPO next year, the Post said. Comments
Despite being the second high-profile bankruptcy to impact the region this year, brokers said the Robb & Stucky filing would have a small impact on the commercial retail market. Florida retailer Robb & Stucky, which filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this year, will eventually leave several large swathes of South Florida retail empty. But in a stronger retail market that recently got a jumpstart from the entry of electronics retailer hhgregg, that impact may not be significant.
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Boca Raton’s Mizner Park Cinema has shuttered for a renovation and retrofit project and will reopen in the fall, owner General Growth Properties told the Palm Beach Post. The theater’s operations were most recently in the hands of Frank Theatres, which took over from Sunrise Cinemas after it was hit with an eviction lawsuit in March for over $90,000 in allegedly overdue rent payments. Mizner Park’s general manager said the theater closed at the end of December. [Palm Beach Post]
German grocer ALDI is set to opened its third South Florida store yesterday in Pembroke Pines, following the opening of two other locations last month in Deerfield Beach and Lauderdale Lakes, one of several retailers setting up shop in South Florida in time for the holiday season. The Sur La Table store opens at the Aventura Mall, and Officine Panerai and Kreiss Furniture opened in Mizner Park in Boca Raton last month as well. The Mizner Park location of Offiicine, the Italian watchmaker, is its largest American showroom. Boca Raton’s Commons at Town Center also saw three new shop openings, including Prime Cigar and Jamie’s Boutique, a women’s clothing store. [Sun Sentinel] [more]
General Growth Properties, owner of Mizner Park mall in Boca Raton, will file its Chapter 11 reorganization plan on or around July 9, Crain’s reported. General Growth asked for one extension until Oct. 18 to file the plan and another extension until Dec. 16 to solicit acceptances of any plan. The extra time would allow them to explore all financing options. The company, which also owns about 200 shopping malls nationwide, filed for Chapter 11 last April, the biggest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history. [Crain's]
Still hoping that bankrupt mall owner General Growth Properties will have a change of heart, rival Simon Property Group has upped its takeover plan by $1.1 billion and added four financial backers to its proposal. General Growth, which balked at Simon’s $10 billion February buyout offer, has since backed a proposal by Brookfield Asset Management. The additional investment by Simon, which said last week it would match the terms of Brookfield’s proposal, comes on top of the $2.5 billion the company has already pledged, plus $1 billion from New York hedge fund Paulson & Co. ING Clarion Real Estate Securities, Taconic Capital Advisors, Oak Hill Advisors and Deutsche Bank AG’s RREEF unit will also join the plan. Critics have said a Simon takeover would raise antitrust issues. “Would Pepsi allow Coke to become its largest shareholder?” asked Cryus Madon, Brookfield’s senior managing partner. CEO David Simon is reportedly scheduled to meet with General Growth officials today in Chicago. [Bloomberg]
Simon Property Group topped the list of the biggest retail property owners with total U.S. holdings at 245 million square feet, according to a ranking by Retail Traffic Magazine. General Growth Properties, the owner of South Street Seaport in New York City and Mizner Park in Boca Raton, which has been fielding reorganization options to exit bankruptcy, ranked second with approximately 182.6 million square feet of retail space in its portfolio. Developers Diversified Realty, Kimco Realty and Centro Properties Group were the fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. TRD
As Simon Property Group prepares to step up its game in its bid to take over bankrupt mall owner General Growth Properties, Brookfield Asset Management is in talks to bring two new hedge funds into its competing plan. Elliott Associates and Paulson & Co. are reportedly in talks to join Brookfield in its bankruptcy exit plan for General Growth, either as replacements for or additions to Fairholme Capital Management and Pershing Square Capital Management, which have already committed to their involvement. Luxor Capital Group and other funds may also be involved, sources told Bloomberg. “Even with Brookfield-Fairholme-Pershing’s commitment, [General Growth] management has been seeking to raise additional capital at more attractive terms,” said analyst Benjamin Yang of Keefe Bruyette & Woods, who was not surprised by reports of the latest negotiations. General Growth, which owns Mizner Park in Boca Raton, rejected a $10 million buyout offer by competitor Simon Property Group last month that amounted to $9 per share, and Simon is said to be prepping another offer. As it stands, the Brookfield deal, which is pending bankruptcy court approval, would result in $15 per share for equity holders. [Bloomberg]
