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Ground-Up Retail Construction Picks Up With 2 Announcements of New Projects Totaling 3M SF

In the first half of 2025, about 4.9 million square feet of retail construction was underway in the U.S., down 50% from the same period last year, according to JLL’s United States Retail Market Dynamics Q2 2025 report. Now, ground is starting to break, as two pairs of companies gear up for about 3 million square feet of retail and mixed-use projects.

3-O Real Estate Partners Launches $4B Retail and Mixed-Use Pipeline

A new joint venture plans to undertake more than $4 billion in retail and mixed-use projects totaling more than 2 million square feet. 3-O Real Estate Partners will build and operate retail and mixed-use projects for the portfolios of its partners, Pacific Elm Properties and Ignite-Rebees. Ignite-Rebees is itself a JV between Ignite Realty Partners and Rebees. The projects will be in Los Angeles; Nashville, Tennessee; and Texas’ Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Pacific Elm CEO Jonas Woods will become CEO of 3-O, and Pacific Elm chief investment officer Billy Prewitt will succeed Woods as CEO of Pacific Elm.

Big V and Seitz Group Will Deliver Nearly 1M SF of Retail in Dallas-Fort Worth Metro

Big V Property Group and The Seitz Group have teamed up to build two open-air shopping centers totaling nearly 950,000 square feet in Dallas-Fort Worth’s fast-growing Collin County. The first project will be the 175,300-square-foot, Kroger-anchored Rosamond Crossing in Anna, Texas. Other tenants will include Bank of America, Chase, Jimmy John’s Sandwiches and McDonald’s.

Retail Trades and Refis Also Reignited in 2025

4 Recent Deals, From $100M to $570M, Total $1.2B

Space still remains tight, making retail an appealing investment. Here are four major recent retail property trades in Texas, California and Illinois.

Nasher Family Regains Full Ownership of Dallas’ NorthPark With $900M Refi

Backed by a $900 million refinancing loan, members of the family behind Dallas’ 1.9 million-square-foot NorthPark Center are regaining full ownership of the property, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The loan, which enables the buyout of J.P.Morgan Asset Management’s 60% stake, is expected to close on Oct. 15, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

The deal paves the way for Nancy Nasher and her husband, David Haemisegger, to take over as sole owners of the upscale mall. According to NorthPark’s website, they bought the mall in 1995 from Nasher’s father, Raymond Nasher, who had developed the mall in 1965. He died in 2007. “The continuous family ownership means that NorthPark Center Mall is operated with a degree of personal touch that is generally not found in corporate-owned real estate assets,” a Fitch Ratings report said.

The two-year, floating-rate, interest-only loan — secured by NorthPark — comes with options for three one-year extensions, according to Fitch. Loan proceeds, mezzanine debt and equity are going toward refinancing $650 million worth of debt, buying out J.P.Morgan Asset Management’s majority stake for $570 million and providing nearly $2 million for reserve funds and closing costs, Fitch said.

As of June, NorthPark’s occupancy rate stood at 98.6%, the report said. Tenants include Dillard’s, Eataly, Givenchy, Hugo Boss, Kona Grill, Macy’s, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Swarovski and Tesla.

Hines REIT Buys Los Angeles’ Runway for $428M

Hines Global Income Trust has acquired the grocery-anchored Runway in Los Angeles for $428.1 million. The seller was Invesco Real Estate, Bisnow reported. Runway, located in the Playa Vista master-planned community, encompasses 630,000 square feet across 14 acres, including 246,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and medical office space, as well as 420 apartments. Whole Foods Market anchors the property, which is 94% leased. Other tenants include Chase, Cinemark, CVS, Hopdoddy Burger Bar and Starbucks.

$143M Sale of Long Beach Towne Center Ground Lease Sets Up Redevelopment

Also in Southern California, real estate developer CenterCal Properties and private equity firm DRA Advisors purchased the ground lease for the 80-acre Long Beach Towne Center, which features 870,902 square feet of gross leasable area. CenterCal and DRA paid $143 million, the Press-Telegram reported. They plan to redevelop the 26-year-old property in partnership with the city of Long Beach. When Newmark listed the property for sale, it reported the occupancy rate was 93.1%.

Nuveen Pays $100M for Dual-Grocery-Anchored Algonquin Commons

Nuveen Real Estate purchased the 600,000-square-foot, dual-grocery-anchored Algonquin Commons power center in the Chicago suburbs. The purchase price was $100 million, according to Commercial Property Executive, citing data from its owner, Yardi. Tenants include Trader Joe’s, The Fresh Market, Nordstrom Rack, Old Navy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Barnes & Noble. The seller, Red Mountain Group, said it raised the center’s occupancy rate from 60% to 94%.

Brookfield Properties has signed a 50-year extension of the ground lease for its 9.4 million-square-foot mixed-use Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan. A press release from the New York governor’s office noted that Brookfield has invested about $900 million in Brookfield Place and plans to invest more than $100 million over the next several years to attract and retain top-tier tenants to ensure the 14-acre complex remains a high-quality asset.

CRE Gender Pay Gap Persists Despite Men’s Dip in Commissions and Other Non-Salary Compensation

This year, men’s earnings in commercial real estate were more heavily affected by swings in commissions and bonuses, and thus their earnings advantage over women dropped from 34% in 2020 to 13% in 2025, according to the 2025 CREW Network Benchmark Study: Workplace Data and Trends in Commercial Real Estate.

Women’s base salaries are just 4% lower — $151,418 for men and $146,103 for women — but annual non-salary income like commission bonuses profit sharing and long-term incentives continues to favor men. Average non-salary earnings for men fell sharply from $122,826 in 2020 to $68,857 this year. That cut into the gap, but women’s non-salary compensation still falls short by $23,856.

In C-suite roles, men continue to earn 24% more than their female counterparts. Women now make up 38% of the commercial real estate workforce, a figure that has stayed nearly flat for two decades, according to the report.

Costco Plans 30 New Stores in the Next Year

Big-box retailer Costco is bulking up its real estate empire with 30 new stores. During a recent earnings call, president and CEO Ron Vachris said it will open 30 new stores and five relocated stores in fiscal year 2026, which started Sept. 1. In its fiscal year 2025, Costco opened 27 locations, including 24 new stores and three relocated stores, he said. That brought Costco’s worldwide store count to 914, including 629 in the U.S. “We continue to see significant opportunities for expansion both domestically and internationally across the markets where we currently operate,” said Vachris.

RD Management Consolidates Partnerships Under RD Property With 50 Assets and Pulls In $350M in Financing

RD Management has consolidated several real estate partnerships under a newly formed company, RD Property. The roll-up owns 50 properties in the U.S. totaling 4 million square feet, including 25 shopping centers, 20 net lease retail properties, four self-storage facilities and one hotel, a spokesperson said. To fuel growth, RD Property has secured a $350 million term loan and revolving credit facility.

Sam Schaefer is assuming the new role of CEO of property management at JLL and will lead the globalization of the business. Schaefer joins from Trammell Crow, where he was a principal.

Investment bank Jefferies has hired Massimo Saletti as co-head of its global real estate business and co-head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa real estate, gaming and lodging practice, Financial News reported. Saletti will join Jefferies in January from JPMorganChase, where he’s been global co-head of real estate, gaming and lodging and vice chair of investment banking, according to Bloomberg. At Jefferies, Saletti succeeds Rishi Bhuchar, Green Street News reported. Bhuchar is now CEO of CBRE’s advisory business in the U.K. and Ireland.

Lockehouse and Mattis Partners Merge To Form Lockehouse Seattle

Retail real estate firms Lockehouse Retail Group and Mattis Partners have merged to form Lockehouse Seattle. Among the clients of Lockehouse Retail Group, founded in 2006, are The Home Depot, Target and Trader Joe’s. Clients of Mattis Partners, founded in 2014, include Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Lowe’s, Planet Fitness and Topgolf.

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