Mansfield, Mass. — Newmark has arranged the $25 million sale of a 74,383-square-foot shopping center located at 377 Chauncy St. in Mansfield, a southern suburb of Boston. Grocer Stop & Shop anchors the property, which is situated on nine acres along Route 140. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd, Paul Penman and Mat Adler of Newmark represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Bailard Real Estate Fund, in the transaction.
Wilbraham, Mass. — FIC Restaurants Inc., a restaurant company that operates the Friendly’s brand, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and entered in an agreement to sell all of its assets to Amici Partners Group LLC. Nearly all of Friendly’s 130 corporate-owned and franchised restaurant locations, known for burgers, sandwiches and ice cream, are expected to remain open subject to COVID-19 limitations. Friendly’s stated that it has sufficient cash on-hand to continue operations, meet its obligations to employees, franchisees and vendors. Upon the sale closing, Amici expects to retain most employees at …
Atlanta and Canton, Mass. — Inspire Brands has agreed to acquire fast-food breakfast chain Dunkin’ Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Atlanta-based Inspire Brands is the parent company of restaurant chains such as Arby’s, Jimmy John’s, Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings. In addition to its namesake coffee and breakfast chain, Canton, Massachusetts-based Dunkin’ Brands also owns ice cream parlor chain Baskin-Robbins, which respectively have about 12,500 and 8,000 locations worldwide. The deal’s price tag equates …
Framingham, Mass. — Locally based development firm Crosspoint Associates has acquired 2.7 acres in the western Boston suburb of Framingham for a retail expansion project. The site formerly housed a Colonial Nissan car dealership and is located adjacent to a Whole Foods Marketplace that will be expanded by 7,163 square feet to a total size of 43,617 square feet. The site will also house other retail users, including a Starbucks with a drive-thru. Bernard Gibbons of Associated Brokerage Group represented Empire Management Corp. in its disposition of the land. Craig …
Boston — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $42.4 million sale of 8 Newbury Street, a 17,023-square-foot office and retail building located in Boston’s Back Bay area. A Rolex flagship store occupies the ground- and second-floor retail spaces of the property, which was originally built in the 1920s. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd and Paul Penman of NKF represented the seller, a joint venture between UrbanMeritage and L&B Realty Advisors, in the transaction. The trio also procured the buyer, a partnership between Chile-based family office Corso and GLL Real Estate …
Canton, Mass. — Dunkin’ Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) reported a total decrease in revenue of 20 percent during the second quarter and announced that it will close about 350 stores worldwide during the second half of the year. These closures follow the company’s announcement to shutter about 450 stores that are housed in Speedway gas stations and convenience marts. Canton-based Dunkin’, which also owns Baskin-Robbins, reported that approximately 90 percent of its international locations for both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins were open as of July 25.
Springfield, Mass. — MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) has reopened its casino in the western Massachusetts city of Springfield at 25 percent of its original capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 13, there were 112,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state of Massachusetts and 8,330 deaths. At this time, the resort’s 240-room hotel and spa remain closed, limiting the amenity options for guests to the 125,000-square-foot casino and three of the property’s food and beverage establishments, which will also operate at limited occupancies. Valet parking is also …
Canton, Mass. — Fast-food breakfast chain Dunkin’ (NASDAQ: DNKN) has announced plans to hire 25,000 new employees nationwide as the company looks to lead the charge out of nationwide coronavirus quarantines. Taco Bell recently made a similar declaration, vowing in late May to hire 30,000 workers this summer. With 55,000 planned hires between just two companies, quick-service restaurants could be an early sign of economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reliance on drive-thru and pickup orders makes fast food a natural type of restaurant to rebound first. On Friday, …
In Salem, New Hampshire, work is underway to construct Tuscan Village, a 2.8 million-square-foot mixed-use project anticipated to meet the growing demands of the area. The center, located on a 170-acre site about 30 miles north of Boston, just over the state line, has grown in recent years as the Boston market steadily expands northward. While the corridor along Interstate 95 has steadily developed, the corridor northward along Interstate 495 has been relatively underdeveloped, as has the area along Interstate 93. Just to the north of the juncture of I-93 …
Boston — Architectural Heritage Foundation is underway on the redevelopment of Charles River Speedway in Boston, a project that will deliver a 15,574-square-foot retail complex. The site is located in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston and includes the former racetrack administrative building and garage facility, which is a registered historic property. Local craft brewery Notch Brewing will anchor the project with a full brewery, taproom and beer garden, along with other restaurant and retail tenants and event spaces. Construction is slated for completion in December.
