The bank has asked for offers starting at $70 million to buy the mortgage of the nine-acre, 362,000-square-foot shopping center off Charlotte Pike. The developers borrowed at least $90 million in funding for the center, the Nashville Business Journal previously reported.

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The Nashville real estate firm behind the West Knoxville Trader Joe’s deal is setting up shop locally.

Baker Storey McDonald Properties — which specializes in retail and shopping center work — this week said it has tapped former Sperry Van Ness/R.M. Moore advisors Lloyd Montgomery, IV, and Josiah Glafenhein to open its new office in Knoxville.

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The California-based grocery chain, famous for its eclectic food offerings and Hawaiian-shirted employees, announced Tuesday that it will open a 13,000-square foot store in the Suburban Plaza shopping center, which is located west of West Town Mall on Kingston Pike and also features Barnes & Noble and Toys “R” Us. The company said it expects the store to open next year.

The Scope’s colleague, Carly Harrington, had recently reported on rumors of the chain’s arrival, and if comments on the News Sentinel website are any indication Trader Joe’s has a built-in Knoxville fan base even before opening its first location.

The company has a reputation for doing things differently, as evidenced by a recent Fortune magazine article which cited a former executive who indicated the company’s biggest R&D expense came from scouring the globe for foods that will make a splash.

According to its website, Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry a lot of branded food items. “Instead, you’ll find unconventional and interesting products in the Trader Joe’s label as well as everyday basics,” the company said. “We buy products we think are winners and that’ll find a following among our customers.”

One item that local fans won’t find is Charles Shaw wine, better known as “Two Buck Chuck.” Tennessee law bars grocery stores from selling wine, however a company spokesman said the new store will carry beer.

Tuesday’s news caps a remarkable series of grocery-related announcements that in the last four months has seen Costco, Publix, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s all announce plans to enter the Knoxville market. All of the stores are slated to open in West Knoxville or West Knox County, although Publix is planning to open additional sites whose locations have not been revealed.

Asked if Trader Joe’s would open any additional stores in Knoxville, spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki in an email said that “At this time, this is our first location and we have nothing else to confirm.”

The Suburban Plaza shopping center is owned by Nashville-based Baker Storey McDonald Properties, which bought it for $10 million in 2009 and has since launched a significant rehab of the property. Carl Storey said a barber shop will be moved to different location in the same center and a nearby building that is home to a dry cleaner and a bridal store will be demolished, with the bridal store moving to another location at the center. Trader Joe’s will be located at the east end of the existing strip center, adjacent to Toys “R” Us.

Storey said that when the project is done, his company expects to have invested more than $2.5 million into the renovations, demolition and construction of the Trader Joe’s. “We’re excited about bringing them to Knoxville and bringing them to Suburban Plaza,” he said. “We’ve got great tenants there at Suburban Plaza, and we’re excited about adding Trader Joe’s to the mix there.”

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/aug/23/josh-flory-trader-joes-is-coming-to-knoxville/josh-flory-trader-joes-is-coming-to-knoxville

Nashville Business Journal – by Eric Snyder
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 12:55pm CDT

Shoppers around the region are rejoicing at today’s news that Opry Mills mall will reopen next spring.

There’s been so much rejoicing, in fact, that Opry Mills has been one of the most popular terms today on Twitter. Regardless, the owners of the mall will have to work to regain their previous customers.

“Any time people get out of the habit of going to a shopping center, particularly as big as (Opry Mills), you run the risk of changing people’s patterns,” said David Baker, a principal with Nashville retail real estate firm Baker Storey McDonald Properties.

By the time the regional mall reopens next year, it will have been closed for about two years. As Baker notes, Opry Mills was a destination — a place to travel an hour to visit, a place to take the kids on Saturday afternoon. Over two years, shopper select new destinations and form new habits.

Mall owners Simon Property Group will “have to basically start it up as a new project again,” Baker said. “They’re going to have to work hard to get that traction back. I’m sure they will.”

This morning, Simon announced a number of its previous anchor stores and retailers will be returning to the mall. Baker said Simon should have a fairly easy time of rounding out the rest of its store lineup.

“They have a pretty good story to tell,” Baker said, noting the mall’s successful track record. The location’s not bad either, right next to the 3,000-room Gaylord Opryland Resort.

While many in Nashville wondered if the mall would ever return — particularly when Simon announced it was halting reconstruction efforts last year while it pursued still-ongoing litigation against its insurers — Baker said there was never any question the mall would return.

“It was a matter of time because you’ve got a very valuable asset that’s in a good city and that was successful. There’s no reason in the world to let it go away,” he said.

By: Jennifer LeClaire

NASHVILLE-It’s been nearly a year since the 100-year flood did more than $1 billion of damage in Nashville. One of the commercial real estate victims was Opry Mills, which was submerged by the rising waters. Now, one of Tennessee’s top tourist attractions is getting a second lease on life—and lots of new retail leases to go along with it.

Simon Properties, owner of Opry Mills, reached an agreement with its lenders, Helaba Bank and Nord/LB, to finance the rebuilding of the mall. SNR Denton partners Christine B. Fisher and Gary Goodman represented the international bank in the negotiations. SNR Denton was not immediately available for comment on the deal. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.

Construction work will begin immediately, bringing thousands of new jobs to the city. The mall is expected to reopen in 2012. Simon expects many of the mall’s original tenants to ink new leases. In fact, most of the previous anchor tenants have already made commitments, including OFF 5TH Saks Fifth Avenue, Regal Cinemas Opry Mills Stadium 20 & IMAX, Dave & Buster’s, Rainforest Cafe, Aquarium Restaurant, Off Broadway Shoes, and Forever 21.

“The response from the retail community has been incredibly positive and enthusiastic,” says Gregg Goodman, president of The Mills. “It’s clear that they prospered at Opry Mills and are anxious to return.”

Previous in-line stores that have also committed to the restored Opry Mills include Banana Republic Factory Store, J.Crew Factory, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Ann Taylor Factory Store, Victoria’s Secret, and Tommy Hilfiger Company Store. Potential new tenants include Coach Factory Store, Calvin Klein, Tommy Bahama Outlet, Talbots, Chico’s, White House Black Market, Under Armour Factory House, and The Lego Store.

Simon’s timing is good. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts Nashville’s retail is expected to perform better than most cities in the U.S. through 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2010, Nashville’s retail vacancy rate was 6.7%, according to CoStar, despite the fact that six retail buildings with nearly 90,000 square feet came online.

“Nashville retail has not experienced the downturn that many other markets have,” David Baker, principal of Nashville X Team partner firm Baker Storey McDonald, tells GlobeSt.com. “Our topography combined with our zoning policies usually prevents massive overbuilding.”

New to Nashville: Melissa Hitchel

Administrative assistant, Baker Storey McDonald Properties

Premium content from Nashville Business Journal

Date: Friday, March 11, 2011, 5:00am CST

Melissa Hitchel is an administrative assistant with Baker Storey McDonald Properties Inc.

Read more: New to Nashville: Melissa Hitchel | Nashville Business Journal

Premium content from Memphis Business Journal – by Andy Ashby

Date: Friday, December 24, 2010, 5:00am CST – Last Modified: Thursday, December 23, 2010, 11:10am CST

ALAN HOWELL | MBJ

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics and Fragrances operates this 10,000-square-foot store on Germantown Parkway. It will open a similar store in Southeast Memphis.

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. has signed a 10,000-square-foot lease at Centennial Commons, adding an upscale tenant to the Southeast Memphis submarket.

The company already has one location at 2273 N. Germantown Parkway in Cordova’s Countrywood Crossing shopping center. It sells salon products and services. Its average store is 10,000 square feet and includes 950 square feet for a full-service salon.

Michael Lightman Realty LLC, which owns Centennial Commons, is planning to build a 16,000-square-foot building to hold the new Ulta location. It will have 6,000 square feet left over for another tenant or tenants after Ulta occupies it.

“I think they wanted to get their first store up and going to see how they liked Memphis,” Michael Lightman Sr., principal of Michael Lightman Realty, says. “We think it’s a good fit for the center. It’ll bring in a high demographic shopper.”

Lightman hasn’t yet selected a general contractor for the $1.5 million building, but thinks it could be delivered by June. Ulta could open by fall 2011.

The company has 384 stores in 39 states. It targets high-traffic, off-mall locations.

Calls to Ulta’s corporate offices were not returned as of press time.

Centennial Commons, located at the northeast corner of 385 and Winchester Road, counts national retailers J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., Jo-Ann Stores Inc., Office Depot Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc. as tenants in the main building. Outparcel tenants include Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Arby’s.

In February, Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. signed a 47,000-square-foot lease for a build-to-suit project at Centennial Commons.

Ulta’s new space will be built between the Toys ‘R’ Us building and J.C. Penney.

“This is a regional center, so the store should attract people from Olive Branch, Germantown, Collierville and East Memphis,” Lightman says. “Their other store is a long way away.”

He said there is still some room to expand at Centennial Commons and could add a 50,000- to 75,000-square-foot building.

“We’re just waiting on the right user or users to come along,” Lightman says.

Lightman’s developments along the Winchester corridor include Centennial Place Shopping Center and the Shoppes of Centennial Commons.

“The existing tenants we have at our shopping centers have been doing well,” Lightman says. “They’ve had a good holiday period and everybody seems to be busy.”

Although Centennial Commons is located in the Southeast Memphis submarket, it is close to the border of the high-end Germantown submarket.

The Southeast Memphis submarket’s 6.1 million square feet of retail space has a 21.5 percent vacancy rate and average asking rents of $8.88 per square foot, according to Xceligent Inc.’s third quarter report.

However, there is 1.1 million square feet of retail space from Highway 385 to Hack’s Cross Road and very little vacancy, Danny Buring, managing broker of The Shopping Center Group LLC, says.

The Germantown submarket has a 9.1 percent vacancy rate in 1.8 million square feet of retail space. The average asking rental rate is $19.25 per square foot.

Buring represented Lightman in lease negotiations while Floyd Dean, an affiliate broker with Nashville-based Baker Storey McDonald Properties Inc., represented Ulta.

Buring has seen good space being snatched up recently paired with a lack of large-scale retail development.

“The good real estate is very, very tight,” he says.

It should only get tighter as large retail projects usually take three to five years from planning to completion and there isn’t anything currently in the pipeline.

This means prime retail submarkets like East Memphis, Germantown, Midtown and Southaven could see increased rents as the few high-profile spaces are taken.

Midtown is a good example of this.Chick-fil-A Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp. went to great lengths, including battling with local preservation group Memphis Heritage Inc., in order to get good spaces on high-traffic corridors like Union Avenue.

“It’s a tight submarket and there’s pent-up demand,” Buring says. “It just gets overlooked because there are no large shopping centers. If someone could assemble 30 acres, we could do some really neat stuff.”