Real estate investment and development company Thor Equities bought CocoWalk in Miami and Beach Place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last month for $120 million. The 455,000-square-foot CocoWalk (below) is in the Coconut Grove section of Miami and has a 16-screen AMC Theatres, Banana Republic and the Gap. The 272,000-square-foot Beach Place has a Café Iguana, Fat Tuesday and Hooters.
New York-based architecture and historical preservation firm Wank Adams Slavin Associates named Mark Bradin as the new director of its retail design studio. Bradin will create environments for the firm's retail customers. He is a former principal at WalkerGroupCNI and has worked with Federated Department Stores and Paris-based Galeries Lafayette.
Memphis-based Poag & McEwen Lifestyle Centers named Edward J. Cronin as senior vice president of leasing. Cronin will handle the day-to-day operations of Poag & McEwen's leasing team including lease negotiations and approval for the company's portfolio. Cronin was most recently senior vice president at Simon Property Group.
CBL & Associates Properties Inc. purchased the Monroeville Mall outside of Pittsburgh from Turnberry Associates for $231.2 million. The acquisition includes the 1.1 million-square-foot mall and an open-air center known as the Annex. JCPenney, Kaufmann's and Lazarus anchor the mall. Mills Corp. named Ronald Weidner to fill its newly created head of international operations position. Weidner, a founding partner of WestWind Capital Partners, will assist Executive Vice President Edward Vinson in the company's expansion strategy in Europe.
Real estates service firm Cushman & Wakefield promoted Richard W. Latella to senior managing director from managing director. He started working for the company in 1983 as a senior appraiser in the Philadelphia office.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based real estate investment trust Regency Centers is working with Australian company Macquarie Countrywide Trust and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund to purchase 25 shopping centers from Branch Properties for $399.3 million. The centers to be bought are located in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Ellman Cos. plans to begin construction on the 500,000-square-foot first phase of the Westgate City Center in Glendale, Ariz., this month. The “Village” at Westgate City Center will include 280,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space including a 4,000-seat Loews Cineplex. The center is located north of Glendale Arena, home of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team. Completion of the first phase is slated for October 2005.