Queen for 90 Days — What’s Next for Long Island City’s One Court Square?

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Easy come, easy go: Amazon cancels plans for Long Island City — but what does this mean for the office it’s leaving behind? Photo Credit: Jeffrey Zeldman. In February 2019, Amazon, Inc. (Amazon) officially broke it off with Long Island City (LIC), cancelling previously announced plans to construct a 4.0 million-square foot (sf ) campus in the city’s … Continue reading Queen for 90 Days — What’s Next for Long Island City’s One Court Square?

Unhappy Feet 2: Payless ShoeSource Files for Second Bankruptcy in Total Store Shutdown

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Malls were emphasizing the importance of keeping anchor tenants, but in the case of Payless Shoesource, it now appears that the shoe is on the other foot. Photo Credit: Mike Mozart The closure of all 2,300 of Payless ShoeSource’s (Payless or the Company) stores in the United States and Canada seems like a minimal event on … Continue reading Unhappy Feet 2: Payless ShoeSource Files for Second Bankruptcy in Total Store Shutdown

Monitoring “The Stuff That Counts”: Shopko’s Closures Minimally Affect CMBS Transactions

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  Introduction The store closures announced by Shopko will likely have a minimal impact on commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) in aggregate; however, DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) does see the potential for localized defaults as the company rejects leases across the country. In addition, the closures highlight the risk of exposure faced by retailers owned by private … Continue reading Monitoring “The Stuff That Counts”: Shopko’s Closures Minimally Affect CMBS Transactions

How One Court Square Won Big with Amazon’s HQ2 Bid

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For the past 14 months, news outlets have been gripped by Amazon.com Inc.’s (Amazon) selection process for its second headquarters (HQ2). For cities in the running, the prospect of a major tech company like Amazon expanding into their areas would mean a significant economic boost with analysts forecasting as many as 50,000 new jobs and … Continue reading How One Court Square Won Big with Amazon’s HQ2 Bid

Brick-and-Mortar Retail Just May Have a Happy Holiday

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This holiday season, growing consumer trends have given the brick-and-mortar retail industry plenty to be merry about. America’s malls and department stores may enjoy an uptick in foot traffic with preliminary studies, which hinted that consumers are not only willing to spend more money, but are actually prepared to visit retail locations. E-commerce is still … Continue reading Brick-and-Mortar Retail Just May Have a Happy Holiday

Retail Optimism Gets Canadian Malls into the Holiday Spirit

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Canadian malls are set to have a happy 2018 holiday season with promising retail trends. Many preliminary studies suggest that consumers plan to spend more money than last year and, while e-commerce is still expected to trend upward, shopping attitudes during the holidays are driving much-needed foot traffic back into traditional retail space. In this … Continue reading Retail Optimism Gets Canadian Malls into the Holiday Spirit

Is Gymboree Going Nighty-Night?

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While the reported Gymboree closures will likely not act as a sole catalyst for a decline of a mall, DBRS cautions that there are regional malls that can ill afford to lose one more national retail tenants. The Gymboree Group, Inc. (Gymboree) is not exactly jumping for joy this year, as the children’s clothing retailer is … Continue reading Is Gymboree Going Nighty-Night?

Lowe’s Renovates Its Retail Strategy

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  Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (Lowe’s or the Company, rated A (low) with a Stable trend by DBRS) is attempting a different retail strategy to stay competitive with other home improvement and hardware companies by closing 47 locations across North America. DBRS sees little impact from this on the retail market, on commercial mortgage-backed securities or … Continue reading Lowe’s Renovates Its Retail Strategy

The Fall of an Icon — Sears and the Evolution of the Great American Shopping Mall

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  In a largely unsurprising move, Sears Holdings Corporation (Sears) filed for bankruptcy on October 15, 2018. Soon thereafter, the notoriously troubled franchise — which had already announced that 150 stores would close in 2018 — announced an additional two rounds of closures. The latest closures include an initial round of 142 locations, with liquidation sales expected to be … Continue reading The Fall of an Icon — Sears and the Evolution of the Great American Shopping Mall

Costa-Hawkins Prevails, Securing Certainty in the Los Angeles Multifamily Market

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On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, Californians took to the polls to determine the fate of Proposition 10, a statewide rent-control measure that would repeal the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Costa-Hawkins) and allow individual municipalities to exercise more control over multifamily rental rates. The citizen-run measure was stopped in its tracks with a voting margin of … Continue reading Costa-Hawkins Prevails, Securing Certainty in the Los Angeles Multifamily Market