Prologis Goes Mixed-Use, $1.1B Savills-Eastdil Merger, $530M Lifestyle Center Sale, 4 Retailers Plan 1,080 Stores and More

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Prologis Is Moving On From Pure-Play Industrial
Savills Agrees To Acquire Eastdil Secured in $1.1B Deal
SoCal’s Victoria Gardens Lifestyle Center Sells for $530M
Health Care Network Buys Vacant Queens Retail Center for $235.5M
Second Horizon Capital Acquires 710K-SF Melbourne Square Mall in Florida
Macerich Experiments With Mall Common Areas To Appeal to Gen Z
Bubble Tea, Chicken, Off-Price and Apparel Chains Plan 1,080+ New Stores
Casto Principal Frank Benson III Has Died

Prologis Is Moving On From Pure-Play Industrial

Industrial real estate giant Prologis wants to break into the mixed-use business. The San Francisco-based REIT is seeking permission from city officials to build SF Railyards, a 20-acre mixed-use project encompassing 7 million to 8 million square feet in the SoMa neighborhood near Union Square.

The site’s station for the Caltrain commuter rail line would be replaced, and the rest of the Prologis-owned property would become home to office, residential and retail space and potentially a hotel. In partnership with Caltrain, Prologis envisions a cluster of buildings at SF Railyards, including an 850-foot tower that would be the city’s second-tallest building, behind the 1,070-foot Salesforce Tower. Prologis expects the buildout to take 20 years, with the first phase delivering 2.5 million square feet.

Savills Agrees To Acquire Eastdil Secured in $1.1B Deal

Commercial real estate brokerage Savills has agreed to buy commercial real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured in a deal with an enterprise value of more than $1.1 billion. Savills, which posted revenue of about $3.1 billion last year, said the acquisition will create a global powerhouse in real estate capital markets. Savills launched its U.S. retail advisory services platform in 2025, and Eastdil already has a retail and mixed-use group.

The acquisition enables London-based Savills to strengthen its foothold in the U.S. Eastdil, which Bloomberg said recorded revenue of $633 million last year, maintains 20 offices, including 13 in the U.S.: Atlanta; Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago; Dallas; Miami; New York City; Newport Beach, California; San Francisco; Santa Monica, California; Seattle; Silicon Valley; and Washington, D.C. Savills has 34 U.S. offices. Savills CEO Simon Shaw told Bloomberg that the company will maintain the Eastdil brand and that the ability to expand in the U.S. was one of the attractions. “It is a transaction that I personally wanted to do for a long time because it accelerates our push into investment banking,” he said.

SoCal’s 1.2M-SF Victoria Gardens Lifestyle Center Sells for $530M

A joint venture between Redwood West, Panattoni and Prime Finance has purchased a 1.2 million-square-foot, open-air lifestyle center in Rancho Cucamonga, California, from Brookfield Properties for $530 million. A news release about the deal said Victoria Gardens attracts 14.7 million visitors per year, making it the country’s fifth-busiest open-air lifestyle center, and generates retail sales of more than $1,100 per square foot. The property is 98% leased to about 160 tenants, including Macy’s, Apple, Lululemon, Chanel, AMC Theatres, Shake Shack, The Cheesecake Factory and Warby Parker. It also features public plazas, office space and the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center, including a public library and a performance venue.

Health Care Network Buys Vacant Queens Retail Center for $235.5M

Northwell Health, a health care system with 28 hospitals and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, has agreed to buy a vacant 338,000-square-foot retail center in New York City’s Queens for $235.5 million. The seller of the 67-year-old Rego Park I is Alexander’s, a REIT managed by Vornado. Alexander’s recently relocated Rego Park I tenants to the adjacent 615,000-square-foot Rego Park II retail center, which it refinanced for $175 million in December.

Second Horizon Capital Acquires 710K-SF Melbourne Square Mall in Florida

Second Horizon Capital bought the 710,000-square-foot Melbourne Square enclosed mall in Florida’s Brevard County. The Orlando Business Journal reported the price was $56.25 million, citing deed documents, and Florida Today reported the seller was WPG. Second Horizon said it will make a “thoughtful and purposeful reinvestment” in upgrading Melbourne Square, which opened in 1982. The deed documents show the deal included the bulk of the mall and the attached Dick’s Sporting Goods store but not the mall’s Macy’s store and two Dillard’s locations, one serving women and one serving men. Tenants include H&M, JCPenney, Pandora and Victoria’s Secret. Melbourne Square is Second Horizon’s second Florida retail acquisition in the past year.

Macerich Experiments With Mall Common Areas To Appeal to Gen Z

Macerich is catering to digitally savvy Gen Z shoppers by setting up Instagram- and TikTok-ready spots at some of its 38 retail centers. With social media in mind, the REIT is revamping common areas at some of its properties, “painting staircases and the nooks under escalators in bright, eye-catching designs to encourage impromptu photoshoots,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Are our malls photogenic?” Macerich CEO Jack Hsieh pondered in conversation with the WSJ. “I do think that’s an opportunity for us as we think about the future of the mall.”

MORE FROM C+CT: Turning Unused Spaces Into Experiences That Drive Traffic and Sales

Bubble Tea, Chicken, Off-Price and Apparel Chains Plan 1,080+ New Stores

Bubble tea chain Gong Cha, fast-casual chain Starbird Chicken, off-price retailer Ross Stores and apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch are broadening their footprints.

Gong Cha Targets 1,000 U.S. Stores

Gong Cha has brewed a plan to operate 1,000 U.S. stores, up from more than 240 today. The bubble tea chain recently acquired the rights to 170 U.S. stores in 13 states from a master franchisee. Founded in Taiwan in 2006, it entered the U.S. market eight years later and now has nearly 2,200 locations around the world.

Starbird Chicken Plots Expansion to 200+ Restaurants

Starbird Chicken, founded in 2016, wants to increase its store count by more than 950% in the coming years, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Starbird, which the Business Times said offers an “elevated alternative” to rivals like Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s, operates 19 restaurants in Northern California, Southern California and Denver.

New CEO Greg Levin is shooting for a store count of over 200. Markets on the fast-casual chain’s expansion map include Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle and Salt Lake City, as well as four major Texas markets — Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio — where 36 franchised locations are in the works.

Ross Stores Will Open 110 Locations in Fiscal Year 2026

Ross Stores plans to grow its footprint by 5% in fiscal year 2026, which started on Feb. 1. The off-price retailer closed out fiscal year 2025 with 1,904 Ross Dress for Less stores and 363 DD’s Discounts stores for a total of 2,267 locations. This year, it’s adding 110 more: 85 Ross Dress for Less and 25 DD’s Discounts locations. Ross Stores projected $1.1 billion in capital expenses for 2026, with some of that money going toward new stores.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Expands Store Fleet and Renovations in Fiscal Year 2026

Casto Principal Frank Benson III Has Died

Frank Benson III died on March 7. Benson, who underwent a lung transplant in 2019, celebrated his 74th birthday on Feb. 1. He was a principal and partner at Casto, which owns, manages and develops retail centers, multifamily properties and office buildings. He joined the company in 1975, nearly 50 years after his grandfather Don Casto Sr. founded it.