S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of real estate news stories published throughout the week.
National drugstore chains have been downsizing their retail space on the back of the rise of online retailers and increased competition, The Wall Street Journal reported.
There were 3,000 fewer drugstores open for business at the start of 2024 compared with the same period in 2019, according to the report, citing RetailStat.
Competition from online stores, discount retailers and beauty stores has pushed drugstores to reduce space. The chains have also closed hundreds of stores since the start of the pandemic.
Drugstores have begun their rightsizing late compared with other retail companies. These retailers started slashing their footprint almost a decade ago, integrated online shopping into their physical locations and have started growing again.
CHART OF THE WEEK: US REIT share repurchase activity picks up in Q1
⮞ US equity real estate investment trusts repurchased about $852.6 million in total common stock in the first quarter, a 78% jump from a quarter ago.
⮞ The self-storage REIT sector repurchased the most common shares during the quarter, at $204.4 million in aggregate.
⮞ National Storage Affiliates Trust bought back the most common stock, at $203.5 million, accounting for 6.7% of the REIT's total shares outstanding.
Top transactions
– Certain subsidiaries of shopping center real estate investment trust Site Centers Corp. agreed to sell their interests across six properties for $495 million in cash, subject to adjustment, to an affiliate of Pine Tree. The properties are Arrowhead Crossing in Phoenix; Easton Market and Polaris Towne Center in Columbus, Ohio; The Fountains in Miami; Kenwood Square in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Tanasbourne Town Center in Portland, Ore. The REIT will retain certain portions of The Fountains, Polaris Towne Center and Tanasbourne Town Center to include in the spin-off of Curbline Properties Corp., according to a filing.
– Amazon.com Inc.'s Amazon Data Services Inc. unit paid $218 million to acquire a 91-acre site with approval for datacenter development in Manassas, Va., the Washington Business Journal reported, citing Prince William County property records. Parsons Business Park LLC sold the site at 14237 and 14209 Dumfries Road at about $2.4 million per acre.
– An affiliate of multifamily REIT Essex Property Trust Inc. paid $101.1 million to acquire the Arlo Mountain View residential and commercial property in Mountain View, Calif., from Greystar, The Mercury News reported, citing county records. The property comprises 164 units at the corner of West El Camino Real and Castro Street.
US hotel performance across three key metrics was up during the week ended May 18, STR reported, citing data from CoStar, which provides information and analytics on property markets.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $109.93, up 2.8% from the comparable week in 2023. Average daily rate (ADR) rose 2.6% to $163.11 and occupancy improved 0.2% to 67.4%.
Among the top 25 markets, Houston logged the highest occupancy lift and Atlanta reported the highest year-over-year increases in ADR and RevPAR.
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